Home Alone
by Luna of the Night Eclipse
Summary: Two weird 14 year olds are home alone. What happens when the Joker's car breaks down near their house? Chaos ensues and things start to get interesting. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Route 14, a road just out of the city limits of Gotham, was usually empty because of the newly built highway. Most people never use it. Except one night when an old purple convertible raced down the old road. Inside driving was a man in a grey trench coat, with a fedora on. Underneath was a purple suit, with an orange shirt and a blue bowtie. The man himself was about 6 ft tall, had bleached white skin, dark green hair and a blood red, huge smile. Yes, it was the Joker.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" The Joker laughed maniacally. " Batsy won't be able to catch up to me now, because of that little…..distraction I set up back at the bank!"

Sure enough, a dark car was behind him, driving fast to try to catch up to the Clown Prince of Crime. It was the Batmobile, driving it was the legendary Dark Knight, Batman.

Spotting the Batmobile in his rearview mirror, the Joker scowled to himself, "Blast! The Dork Knight is catching up to me. I know! I'll hide behind that hill at this turn."

Doing exactly that, the Joker drove right behind the big hill. A few moments later, the Batmobile drove right past it, the Joker smiling at it until it couldn't be seen anymore.

"Ha! Sucker!" the Joker exclaimed. He put the key in the ignition, but the car sputtered and wouldn't start. Grumbling, the Joker got out of the car and popped the lid open. Smoke immediately flooded the air, making the Harlequin of Hate cough and blinded him temporarily.

"Well, I'm guessing that isn't very good. Now what am I going to do! I can't drive back to the lair, and Batsy will probably be back this was soon!" He said maliciously.

When Joker was looking around his surroundings, he spotted a lone house, with the lights on and everything.

"Well, what do you know? A piece of civilization out here. I'm sure whoever lives there will be happy to assist me with my dilemma, whether they want to or not" the Joker chuckled darkly.

He then set off towards the house, the two unlucky people who happen to be in the house unaware of what's coming to them.

* * *

Nicole was bored out of her mind. She and her friend Mara, who was staying for the week because of her parent's honeymoon vacation, were watching Invader Zim. Mara was in love with the show; Nicole liked it too, but she could only take so much of it. Her dad was out of town on a business trip for two days, and her mom was at work. Nicole had dark brown hair, dark eyes, and was wearing a purple jacket with jeans. Mara had medium length dark brown hair, and brown eyes.

"Can we do something else now; Invader Zim's constant failures to conquer the world are starting to annoy me." Nicole whined.

"No way! I love this episode." Replied Mara. Nicole started to get seriously annoyed "But it's my house! Therefore it's my T.V.!"

"So? I won the rock paper scissors to see who picks what we watch."

"But..."

"Shush"

"That's not….."

"SHUSH!"

Nicole sighed angrily, and pouted, but quickly got over it. "Uhh, I wished something would happen out here, like in the city part of Gotham. With Batman saving the day from psychopathic criminals!"Said Nicole enthusiastically

"Yeah, me too!" agreed Mara. Mara and Nicole were actually big Batman fans, but couldn't put any news clippings on their walls because of both their parents' disapproval of Batman and his vigilantism.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Mara and Nicole looked behind the couch to where the front door was.

"That's weird. Mom doesn't get off 'til 2 a.m., and it's only 9:30."

"Probably some stupid high school kids playing ding dong ditch on us. Let's go kill 'em, sell their organs online and…"

"Shut up Mara. Let's just give them a piece of our mind and kick them in the crotch like normal 14 year old girls." Nicole said, getting off the couch and walking towards the door.

Mara, although feeling bummed out on her rejected plan, jumped of the couch and ran walked to the door with her friend. Nicole grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. What the two young girls saw made them both gasp out loud.

It was none other than the Joker, with his trench coat and matching hat, his purple suit underneath, and his inhumanly wide grin as wide as ever. The Joker leaned forward towards the shocked young teens, staring at them with his yellow tinted eyes, like a wolf who stares at his prey.

The Joker said in a creepily dark voice with a hint of laughter, "Helloo, girlies. Mind if I come in?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The two girls stood in absolute shock. The Joker was on their front door, grinning a Cheshire cat grin. Since they were Batman fans, they knew all about the Clown Prince of Crime. Especially that he is extremely dangerous and insane. Most girls would scream and run. But not these two. They did something that was so gutsy that if some people did this to someone like him, they'd be dead: They slammed the door in his face.

"Holy Shit. The Joker, arch nemesis of Batman, is at my house!" exclaimed Nicole.

"Yeah, and we slammed the door in his face. WE ARE GOING TO DIE!"

Nicole replied, "Damn, you're right. At least you locked the door, right?"

" Uummmm….."

The door suddenly swinged open, and the Joker barged right in, still having his trademark smile on.

"Now, that was very rude girls. That's not how you treat a guest." the Joker said humor fully.

The Joker looked around the living room, and whistled like a wolf in those old cartoons.

"This joint looks homey! And where are the homely parents around here?"

The two 14 year olds still stood in shock. Nicole was the one to speak.

"Um, they're not home right now. It's just us."

The Joker then threw his head back in maniacal laughter, catching Nicole and Mara off guard.

"The kiddies are home alone! How convenient. Children are so much easier to handle then grownups. Better hostages too."

While Nicole was still wondering what he was talking about with the hostage part, Mara spoke with a hint of annoyance, "Hey we are not children! We are 14 years old."

"Mara! Don't tell the guy our ages! "

Joker then butted in, "Fourteen, huh. No matter. You two still shouldn't be a problem for me. I've handled worse, like old Guano Man."

"Why are you out here?" asked Nicole with a hint of courage.

"Great question, Ms…….?"

"Nicole." Said Mara

"Mara!" Nicole exclaimed as she turned to face her friend with an angry glare.

The Joker chuckled darkly. "Nicole and Mara, huh. Well, Nicole, when I was driving away from Batsy, I turned to hide behind the hill, but when the Dork Knight was gone, my car died right out on me. Sad, isn't it?"

"Well, we don't have any cars right now. Fresh sold out. Guess you have to try your luck somewhere else, heh heh." said Mara rather quickly.

Joker then wrapped his arms around both the girl's shoulders. Walking and leading the teens towards the other room, the Joker starts talking. "Oh, but what's the rush? Why walk back to Gotham when I can hang right here. And in case Batman comes by, I'll have two little hostages with me. Bats won't come near me with defenseless kids in harm's way."

Nicole laughed shyly. "Hostages, huh? Well as flattered as me and my friend are, I'm afraid we're going to have to decline. I mean we have a sleep curfew, and I'm sure we'd be too boring as hostages, right Mara?"

Mara nodded. "Yeah, we are seriously boring."

"Without a doubt."

"Completely!"

The Joker chuckled in amusement. "Oh, don't degrade yourselves girls. The youth are so entertaining. Better than old mayors and police commissioners. Besides, heh heh, you two put quite the smile on my face!"

The Joker and his captives then stopped before the basement door. He took his arms off the girl's shoulders, and opened the door. Behind the door, was a long staircase.

"Let's see what we have down here." The Clown Prince of Crime then motioned Nicole and Mara to go down the stairs. Hesitantly, the girls went down the stairs, Joker following them after. When they reached the bottom, there were a lot of boxes of old stuff, followed by a more recently built storage room.

"Ah, there we are." The Joker said. He pushed the teens in front of him and forced them to the little storage room. The Mogul of Mountebanks opened it, and nothing was in there.

"Well, it will have to do for now." said the Joker as he surveyed the small room.

"What will have to do for now?" asked Nicole.

"Since I can't watch you two while I plan what to do next, you girls will stay in here for awhile."

The Joker pushed Nicole and Mara in the room, and stepped towards them.

"Now you two be good little hostages and stay here while Uncle J. looks around."

The Joker started chuckling to himself and proceeded to leave, just as Nicole said, "You won't get away with this! Batman will stop you."

The Joker stopped dead in his tracks. Mara said also, "Yeah, Batman will stop you! I mean, let's face it. You don't exactly win all the time, you know."

The Joker slowly turned towards the girls, anger lighting up in his eyes.

Nicole started to smile smugly. "Yeah he'll defeat you just like he does every time. And he'll kick your butt right back into Arkham, where you belong."

That comment made Joker really ticked off. He walked menacingly towards Nicole, making her back up to the wall. The Joker shoved the 14 year old in the wall, and held her face to force her to look at him. Mara was about to intervene, but the look she received from the Harlequin of Hate made her back off.

The Joker then returned his attention to Nicole. "My, aren't we the brave one now. Listen little girl. You will not smart mouth me. Nothing is really stopping me from making you laugh to death. Literally. But since I need at least two hostages to keep Bats off my back if he arrives, I'll let you off with a warning. Plus you two somewhat amuse me. Now we're going to behave now, won't we?" The Joker ignored the angry glare Nicole was giving him, and nodded her head for her. "Good" He then let go of her. Mara and Nicole then huddled close together, as the Joker proceeded again to leave.

Just as he got to the door, he looked back at the scared girls. He had his old wide grin back on again, and said with a lighthearted tone, "Remember, I'll be right upstairs, so neither of you try to play hero," and in a more serious voice, "Or else." The Joker then started to cackle insanely and slammed the door, locking it.

Nicole and Mara then looked at each other, when Mara said, "Well this isn't good at all."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It has been at least 20 or so minutes since the Joker locked them in the storage room, but it felt like hours to Mara and Nicole. Most people would be totally scared and would be freaking out right now. But these two were not like normal people. They did worry about what the Joker is going to do with them, but there was a more dominant feeling they were experiencing right now: Boredom.

Mara groaned, "Uhh, why did he leave us here with nothing to do. I bet he's going to leave us down here until we go insane. Not that we were very far from that anyway. "

" Maybe you're insane, but I'm not. I'm actually trying to figure a way out of here, not complaining like you." Nicole said while trying to jiggle the locked door open.

" Okay, three responses to those comments. 1: You are totally crazy like me, which was proved when you insulted the Joker. 2 : You've been trying to open that door the whole time, and it won't open, so stop trying. And 3: I SO DO NOT COMPLAIN!

Nicole stopped jiggling the handle and turned to her friend. "Really? You don't ever complain?" she asked sarcasticly.

"…….Shut up."

Nicole smiled. "Thought so. Ughhh! I give up trying to open this stupid door!"

" Why'd your dad put a lock on a storage room door, which is in a basement?" asked Mara.

Nicole sighed. "Because my dad can be really stupid sometimes."

Nicole walked right next to Mara and slid down on the floor. She sat crosslegged and put her face in her hands. Mara was leaned up against the wall, her legs spread out. The wall was seriously dusting up Mara's black jacket, but she didn't seem to care.

"I wonder what he's going to do with us. If Batman shows up or not." Mara said to mainly herself.

Nicole nodded and said "I wonder what he's doing right now." After she said that, the girls curiously looked up to the ceiling, repeating the same question in their thoughts. What was the Joker doing upstairs?

* * *

The Joker was pacing all over the house, going nowhere in particular. He was trying to figure out what he was going to do with those girls. They were very amusing to him, in a weird " kids who try to get out of situations awkwardly way" . And he suspected that Batman would come by, so he would need them as hostages.

Although, they were getting braver, like when they told him "Batman will save them". "Yeah right!" he thought to himself. He also hated when people insulted him, and those girls really ticked him off. Especially that one girl, Nicole. She almost sounded manipulative, like she was purposely trying to set him off. And that glare. To the Joker, that glare was defiant, almost like….. Batman. Joker shook those thoughts away. He wouldn't let two little brats make him lose his edge.

"I know what to do with them!" exclaimed the Joker. " If Batman doesn't come, I'll ring up the henchmen and have them come here. I'll take those teenage twerps with me, and "tutor" them as my apprentices!"

To him, it was a wonderful idea. Their little senses of humour and ability to amuse the Joker could come in handy. And he could use an apprentice or two, to get even with Batsy's Bratgirl and Bird Boy. He bet it would also haunt the Dark Knight if he let his most dangerous enemy turn innocent girls into little maniacs. Maniacs like him.

"Oh, it will be so much fun!" the Joker chuckled darkly. "I haven't tortured anyone in awhile. And it will be very enjoyable to break the defiance of those little kids and make them serve me. That Nicole also won't be very insolent then, will she?"

The Joker then threw his head back into maniacal fits of laughter, thinking of his plan that involves the unlucky girls right below him.

* * *

Mara and Nicole were getting to the point of falling –to- sleep- boredom, since they were down there for like an hour with nothing to do. Just as they were reaching the point of sleeping, a high pitched noise scared them and made them wide awake.

"Wha…?" yelled Nicole as she quickly became aware of her surroundings.

"I swear I didn't do it! Wait, what?" said Mara as she became more awake too. The high pitched noise they heard was the Joker's insane laughter, and they guessed he probably knew what he was going to do with them now.

"That doesn't really sound very good in our favor." Mara said.

Nicole looked at Mara with a hint of annoyance in her eyes. "Oh, you think?"

Mara gave her a dirty look, but got over it and looked at the ceiling as if she could see what that homicidal clown doing.

Nicole sighed deeply and said, "Sorry."

"No big, Nicole."

Nicole put her arms on her raised knees, and rested her head in it.

"I hope Batman comes. Soon."


	4. Chapter 4

_I do not own Batman, Joker or anyone. I only own my OCs. Though it would be fricking sweet if I did XD. PLEASE R&R. I am new to this writing thing so i need a little encouraging. Enjoy._

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Batman zoomed through the streets, looking for the Joker. He searched every spot of every part of town he went through, to see where the Clown Prince of Crime is hiding.

"I searched the streets all night, and still no sign of the Joker, Alfred." He told his faithful butler on the communication screen. "I've driven halfway to Metropolis by now searching."

"Perhaps, Master Bruce," Alfred suggested, "that you should retrace your steps back where you lost track of him, sir."

"Good idea, Alfred. I'll head back and search." With that the Caped Crusader turned off the com link and turned around to head back to Gotham. On his way back to the crime infested city, he was thinking of where the Joker could be.

"I've got to find him before he hurts more people."

* * *

Nicole was going insane. She has been locked in this storage room for almost two hours, and she was extremely bored.

"Come on, Nicole."

"No."

"Please! There's nothing else to do around here!"

"I already said I don't want to play 20 questions!"

"You are so not fun! You are usually way more fun and/ or crazy." Mara said with a mixture of anger and disappointment.

"Why would I want to have fun right now? We are locked in a storage room with a psychopath upstairs, probably plotting on our grueling demise, and my hair is getting messed up!" Nicole shouted angrily.

"Well, I may not be able to do anything with the locked in a storage room with a psycho upstairs thing, but I can help with the hair problem."

"What do you mean?" Nicole asked confusingly.

Mara searched her pocket, then pulled something out and showed it to Nicole. It was a bobby pin.

"You can use it to get some hair out of your face."

"……"

"Nicole?"

"You had a pin this whole time, that we could've used to unlock this door, escape, and call the cops, and you didn't tell me!!"

"….Tee hee."

Nicole had to stop the urge from having a psycotic breakdown and untensed herself.

"Give me the pin."

Mara handed her the pin, and Nicole quickly grabbed it and proceeded to unlock the door. It didn't take long until she heard the click of the door being unlocked.

"It worked!" Nicole said happily.

Mara immediately stood up and walked right next to Nicole. Nicole opened the door slowly and the girls walked out of the storage room.

"We have to be very quiet so clown boy doesn't hear us."

As they went to the staircase, Mara bumped into a big stack of boxes and they all fell down, knocking the nearby stacks down like dominos. The whole process was very loud. Loud enough for someone upstairs to hear.

When the boxes stopped falling, Mara looked at Nicole and laughed nervously.

"That's…. not…..quiet."

Mara smiled somewhat nervously. "What chance do you think he heard us?"

* * *

The Joker was wandering around the house, stealing some jewelry, laughing at stupid family portraits, and just plain looking at random stuff. He was looking at a scrapbook made up of newspapers with Batman articles in Nicole's room upstairs. The Joker scowled. "So the kids are Batman fans, huh. Well I'll be sure to fix that. He he."

Just as the Clown Prince was going to rip up an article that showed Batman arresting a beaten up Joker, he heard a loud banging noise. It sounded like something falling downstairs, like in the…basement.

As soon as the Joker knew where the sound came from, he rushed down stairs and ran to the basement door.

* * *

Nicole and Mara immediately heard the running noises coming their way.

"Oh, shit." Mara said.

"Quick, hide under the stairs!" Nicole whispered loudly. The 14 year olds quickly ran under the stairs, just as they heard footsteps rushing down them. The Joker was running right to the storage room and stopped when he reached the storage room's door.

"WHAT!" he yelled as he looked in the room, seeing it empty. The girls decided to use this opportunity to sneak upstairs and try to get away. Just as they were on the middle of the stairs, the Joker chuckled loudly and menacingly. This made the girls stop dead in their tracks.

"He heh. Looks like some mischievous mice have escaped their cage." He said while turning around and facing Nicole and Mara. "How unfortunate for them."

Mara and Nicole smiled nervously and Mara asked quietly to Nicole. "Is this our cue to run?"

Nicole glanced at Mara and answered, "Oh, most definetly."

With this, the two girls sprinted up the stairs. The Joker just walked menacingly slow up the stairs, smiling a smile that could kill.

"Oooh! I love a good game of cat and mouse."

* * *

As soon as they got out of the basement, Mara and Nicole ran upstairs into the guestroom, where a phone was.

"Dial the cops! Dial the cops!" whispered Mara loudly. Nicole quickly dialed 911, but as she waited for someone to pick up, she noticed something.

"Mara." She started slowly with a hint of fear, "The phone's dead."

As if on cue, all the lights went off. "Okay, this guy is getting really creepy. Now what do we do?" Mara asked.

"Hmmm. Wait, my Mom always leaves her cell phone in her room. We can use that to call for help!"

"Your mom leaves her cell here?"

Nicole shrugged. "What can I say? She's getting senile. Okay you go in my parent's room and call the police. I'll distract clown boy.

" 'Kay. Be careful, okay."

"Okay just go!" Mara then quickly and quietly ran to Nicole's parent's room. She looked all over the room, but then saw the cell phone. She picked it up and examined it. "Wow, this phone is lame. Wait, I'm supposed to dial for help!" She quickly dialed 911. "Come on, come on! Yes hello, get me the police please…."

Meanwhile, Nicole tip-toed downstairs and hid in her father's study. She could hear the Joker's taunting as he was walking around the other end of the house. "Giiirlies! Where are you? Come out and play!" the Joker said disturbingly. It gave Nicole chills, but she shook it off. She grabbed her walkie talkie she left in there, and set it on the setting to the walkie talkie in the room The Joker was in currently. She started to speak into it.

* * *

The Joker was trying to locate the girls, taunting them to scare them out of their hiding spots. He was having so much fun. When all of a sudden, he heard a voice. A young girl's voice. "Hey clown boy!" he heard. He tried to pinpoint the location of the voice, until his foot bumped into something. A walkie talkie. He picked it up when he heard the girl's voice again coming from it. "Hey freako, you still looking for us?" The Harlequin of Hate had to chuckle at this. A child trying to catch him off his guard. Good luck. "You know, it isn't very polite to try and hide from your guests, and then try and insult them." He said humor fully, with a hint of creepy seriousness

"Yeah, I know. But you're not my guest. You're a circus reject that barged into my house and tried to scare us."

The Joker scowled. "Watch it, girl. You do NOT want to get in my bad side"

"Make me. You know, I saw a show that said how you became the Joker. A lame old hit man that was stupid enough to try and fight Batman, then fell in acid. Clumsy much? Then you became a super villain. What? You couldn't make it as a rodeo clown?"

Joker growled ferociously. "I'm warning you, you little brat!"

"You know, now that I think about it, your whole life story sound very cliché. I mean you always make plans to kill people, Batman stops you, and you get sent to Arkham, and then you escape. Then the whole thing starts over again. It really sounds…..pathetic. By the way, your jokes suck."

That was the last straw. The Joker yelled furiously, and threw the walkie talkie at the wall, shattering it.

At the other end of the house, Nicole winced at the sound of the other walkie talkie being destroyed on impact of the wall. "I must be out of my mind to do that. I better check on Mara." she said to herself. She crawled to the door of her father's study, and looked both ways to see if the Joker was there. When she checked the right side, she was both getting up and walking to the left when she bumped into something, making her fall back.

"Ughh. What.. Oh damn." What she bumped into was a man in a purple suit with green hair, white skin, and the most chilling smile a person would ever see from this man, and probably the last.

"Hello…Nicky girl."


	5. Chapter 5

_I do not own Batman or any Batman characters, except my OCs. Please R&R, if you would :)_

* * *

_**CHAPTER 5**_

It wasn't long before Batman reached the old Route 14 road. He kept his eyes peeled for anywhere the Joker could've hid. Finally, he saw a hill, which could be big enough for an old convertible to hide behind. Plus the fact that Batman lost track of the Clown Prince of Crime around this area. That made the Caped Crusader curious enough to check it out.

Batman drove along the side of the road the hill, which is part of a rundown town park called Gotham Acres City Park, which he figured out because he saw the sign, and parked in the entrance. It didn't take long for the Dark Knight to find the Joker's old car. Batman got out of the Batmobile and headed for the other car. When he reached the car, he inspected it, and saw no one was in there. He also saw the lid of the car was open. The engine apparently died, so the Joker couldn't head back to Gotham.

"Where could he be?" the Winged Avenger asked in his thoughts. He knew the Joker wouldn't walk back; He may have been highly irritating, but the Joker was not dumb. He suspected that the Joker would try to find a house to call his lackeys or steal a car. But where would he go? There didn't seem to be any houses or anything around here.

When Batman further studied his surroundings, he spotted a house all by itself, not too far away from here. Batman then recognized the house. It was the house of one his employees, Norman Travis. He, as Bruce Wayne, visited to discuss some business plans once. He had a wife, who he says works late everyday, and a daughter. Funny kid. But Norman was on a business trip representing Wayne Industries on a big businees deal. Before he left, he said something about his daughter and her friend would probably burn the house down, since they would be alone tonight. And if the Joker spotted that house…….

"My God!" he exclaimed when he imagined two young girls alone with the extremely dangerous Joker. With that he immediately sprinted towards the house.

"Please let me get there before he ruins two more innocent lives."

* * *

"Hello…..Nicky girl."

Nicole was in shock when she saw she bumped right into the Joker. She had two thoughts popping up in her head. 1: What was he was going to do to her after what she said on the walkie talkie. Probably not the best idea to insult him. And 2: How'd the hell did he get to the other side of the house that fast? What does he have, teleportation powers?!

"Uhh, hi."

"Get up." The Joker said fiercely while grabbing the hood of Nicole's jacket, forcibly pulling her up.

"Now let's take a walk and find your buddy, shall we?" With that, he started to take long strides out of the study hallway, pulling Nicole with him.

"Let me go!" Nicole yelled, trying not to trip with the Joker's fast walking. The Joker ignored her and kept searching all over down stairs. He looked upstairs too, not thinking to look under the bed in Nicole's parent's room which Mara hood under. When the captor and captive reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around, he really was getting impatient. The Joker stopped walking, he turned to the girl he was holding, giving her a furious look.

"Where is the other brat?!" he leant in towards his hostage and asked angrily.

Nicole looked up to her captor and smiles smugly. "Guess genius."

This did not help his anger. "Insolent little brat!" he yelled while lifting her up and slamming her against the wall, holding her by the shoulder part of her jacket.

The Joker had a very menacing look on his face, but as if it were nothing, he calmed himself down a notch.

He chuckled darkly. "Gutsy little cretin, aren't you. Well, don't worry. I'll take care of that. When I find your little pal, we're going to take a little trip back to my hideout. You two are going to be perfect little mindless, giggling zombies after I'm done with you. And the first one I'm going to teach a lesson to is you. And your hero Batman won't be able to save you either."

"Uh… is there any way to refuse this?"

The Joker gave her a smile that a wolf would give a baby deer before it makes a killing blow.

"No, there isn't. Now I'll ask again." He said while pulling out a knife with his other hand and putting near her neck. "Where is the other little brat?"

All of a sudden, a batarang swooshed in and knocked the knife right out of the Joker's hand, making him hiss in pain. The batarang returned to its owner, a figure shrouded in black, with pointy ears and white slits for eyes. It was the Batman.

"Batman!" the Joker yelled, which made him put Nicole off the wall and in front of him. The Joker wrapped his one arm around the girl, and said while smiling his trademark smile, "And I thought you were never going to get here."

The Dark Knight started to walk towards them, when the Joker pulled out a gun and pointed it to Nicole's head, making Batman stop dead.

"Oh, come on!" Nicole whined. "You have a gun, too? What else do you have on you, a sword?"

"Hush, kid. Adults are talking." The Joker said, not taking his eyes of the Caped Crusader.

"Let the girl go, Joker. Now. She did nothing to you."

" Oh, but she did. She and her little friend tried to make a fool out of me. No one makes a fool out of the Joker! When we escape, I'm going to make these insolent little brats wish they were never born, starting with this one. And there is nothing you can do to stop me. They were doomed the moment they opened the front door!"

The Joker then started cackle insanely, unaware of Mara right behind him on the stairs.

"Hey Bozo the clown!" Mara yelled, making the Joker stop midlaughter, "Let go of my friend!"

Mara then shot a big marble from a slingshot she found in Nicole's room and it hit the Clown Prince's head, making him release Nicole long enough for her to escape from his clutches.

"Yeah, that's right. You better hunch over in pain! No one messes with my pal but me."

"Thanks Mara….I think."

When the Joker looked up at Mara, he growled in anger. "Why you little….." he started while aiming the gun at Mara.

" Oh, crap." Mara said while backing away from the gun.

Before the Joker could pull the trigger, Batman kicked the gun away from him. They started to punch each other, resulting in both of them falling on the ground on top of each other, trying to hit each other. During their scuffle, Nicole and Mara got together and ran in another room to get something.

Before long, the Joker was on top of the Caped Crusader, holding his arms on the ground.

"You should've stayed in your cave, Batsy. Now it's time to meet your punch line!" the Harlequin of Hate said while aiming his pink flower full of lethal Joker gas, followed my crazy laughter.

Before the Joker could finish his enemy, a baseball bat hit him across the back of his head, making him pass out. Batman pushed his arch nemesis off him and got up to see who hit him. It was the two 14 year olds, both smiling triumphantly. Nicole was the one holding the bat. "That was for holding me hostage and calling me a cretin." she said.

"He really should've seen that coming." Mara said.

"Without a doubt." Nicole agreed.

The two girls then high-fived each other, which made Batman smirk. Making the Batman smile was a rarity, so the girls thought of that as a major achievement.

"Are you two alright?" Batman asked.

"Yeah, we're fine." Nicole relpied.

"Man that was so cool! How you kicked the gun out of his hand, and started to beat the crud out of him! Was totally coolio."

"What my friend is trying to say is thanks for saving us and stuff." said Nicole.

"You're welcome." replied Batman coolly.

The Joker then started to stir and moan, which was a sign he wouldn't be out for long.

"We should call the police" implied Batman.

"Already did." Mara answered happily.

Soon the sounds of police sirens flooded the air, and Batman put bat cuffs on the Joker, waiting for the police to take him away.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Several policemen covered the yard of the Travis home. Cops were inspecting the house for any dangers. With the Joker involved, people have to expect the unexpected. With the police flooding everywhere, Commissioner Gordon was surveying it all, and talking behind the house in the shadows to someone. Probably Batman figured the girls, as they waited outside, as many police investigators were asking them information on what happened.

"This has been the weirdest ass night ever." Said Mara to Nicole, who was looking all over the crime scene that was her house.

"Yeah. It was, wasn't it?" replied Nicole, who was rubbing the back of her head.

"What's wrong?" asked Mara.

"My head is kind of sore. Probably when Psycho the Clown slammed me to the wall"

"Which time?"

"Shut up."

"Heh he. Oh, and speak of the devil."

The girls looked behind them to see big policemen pulling along the Joker, who still had the bat cuffs on him. He was trying to wriggle free, but no such luck. When he caught glimpse of Mara and Nicole, he quickly showed undeniable anger in his eyes. He struggled harder, but couldn't get free. He was yelling while he was being taken away.

"You two little brats! You'll pay for this! Sometime soon I'll escape, and when I do, you both will be first on my hit list! Both of you will die a slow death. You hear me?! A slow death!!"

With those final words, the police slammed the door when they put the Joker in the prisoner van, on its way back to Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane.

Mara looked at Nicole. "Gee. He looked mad, didn't he?"

Nicole replied with a fake sweet tone. "Just a tad, I think."

The two teens then laughed. It was amazing how these kids could keep their humor intact. Most girls would probably be too traumatized to even speak. But, like I said earlier, these two were not normal girls.

"Nicole! Nicole are you okay?!"

Nicole turned around when she was ambushed into a very tight hug by her mother.

"Mom, choking…not breathing!"

Her mom let go of the out of breath teen. She looked at both of the girls with extreme worry in her eyes. "Are you both okay? The police called me and told me what happened. I rushed here as soon as possible. Did that monster hurt you?!"

"Mom, chill out! We're both fine. The Joker was arrested and the police and Batman handled it."

"And we hit the dude with a bat." smiled Mara.

"Oh yeah, that too."

"Well, all right. I called your father and your parents, Mara. They should all be here tomorrow. Wait a minute. You hit him with a bat?!"

"Ummm……" the girls both started to say.

"Excuse me, ma'am." A big man came and said to Mrs. Travis. He was overweight, had a grey trench coat and matching hat, and spoke with a Brooklyn accent. "I'm Detective Bullock. I 'm gonna have to ask you 'couple question, all right?"

"Well yes, I suppose. I'll be right back girls." Mrs. Travis said while walking off with Detective Bullock to answer questions.

"Whew! Saved by the cop." Sighed Nicole happily.

Mara chuckled. "Yeah… Wait, she called my parents? Ah, great! They're going to be so worried, when they see me, I'm going to have to call the cops so I don't die of suffocation!"

"Speaking of calling the cops, what took you so long to call the police upstairs?"

"Well, at first they didn't believe me. They thought I was some punk playing a prank. But once they heard the shouting downstairs, I managed to convince them."

"They didn't believe you because you played a prank on them before, didn't you?"

"Only once……or three times."

Nicole slapped her forehead. "Why am I not surprised?" then she looked up at her friend. "Where did you hide from the Joker, by the way?"

"Under the bed, where else?!" Mara said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Aaahhh." Nicole said as she got it. She then looked back where they saw the Commissioner was talking with Batman before, who is now talking with other policemen.

"Come on." Nicole nudged Mara to follow her around the back.

When they finally came around back, they looked all around the yard.

"Looking for me?" a dark voice asked/stated.

The girls turned around to find Batman staring down at them.

"Uh, yeah. We just wanted to thank you again for saving us. Without you, we would probably be dead or worse right now." Said Nicole

Mara looked at Nicole. "What do you mean "or worse"?!"

"Shush."

This made the Caped Crusader chuckle deeply. "You don't have to thank me. You two did pretty well on your own. Other people have been in your situation and never made it out alive. Good job… to both of you."

"Well I don't like to brag or anything but…" Nicole hit Mara in the arm before she could finish. "Oww!"

"It was nothing really." Nicole said in her not so modest friend's place.

"Here" Batman gave Nicole and Mara two batarangs.

Mara's face lit up brightly. So did Nicole's. "Cool!" they both exclaimed.

"Nicole! Mara! Where are you?!" the girls turned around and saw Nicole's mom looking for then in the front.

"That's my mom. I guess we have to……go?" The girls looked back and saw the Dark Knight was gone.

"That is totally strange, yet really sweet." Mara stated to her friend.

"Yeah…….. We should go before my mom goes crazy looking for us."

The two 14 year olds went back to the front yard, unaware of the shadowy figure watching them leave. Batman was amazed of how resilient these kids were. They survived a night with the Joker, and even saved his, the Batman, life. And they still had their sense of humor.

"I call shot gun!" he heard Nicole shout as they were running towards a police car, probably to be asked more questions down at the station Batman guessed.

"No way! I get to sit in the front!" he heard Mara reply.

"Neither of youse gets to sit in the front. Get in the back with your mother, kids." Bullock responded.

"Awwww!" the girls both moaned.

Batman chuckled to himself. "Kids." Gotham's Guardian then proceeded to leave, returning to the city where he was needed.

As soon as Mara and Nicole got in the back of the police car, along with Nicole's mom, they began the drive to Gotham Police Department. They both hoped this was the last thing to deal with after this whole scenario. They thought they had enough adventure to last them awhile. Too bad they didn't know, it has only just begun.

* * *

**You guys thought it was over didn't you? JOKE'S ON YOU! Please R&R for comments or advice. **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

4 months later…….

Nicole and Mara were so very, very, very, bored. They were in Life Skills, and their teacher, Mrs. Fram was droning on about responsibility. Mara was sleeping, no one but Nicole noticing, while the previously mentioned was staring at the clock, waiting the last 45 seconds for it to ring for lunch.

"Ring. Ring. RING DAMN IT!" Nicole was shouting in her head. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the bell rang. Nicole was already up from her desk the moment the bell rang, but went over to Mara's desk to wake her up.

"Wake up sleeping…..something." she said while trying to wake her friend up. She would've said sleeping beauty, but what fun is that?

"What do you mean I'm 24?!" Mara shouted as she was shook awake. Nicole didn't really want to know what she was dreaming of, cause they were always random.

"Come on, we got to get to the cafeteria before the line gets too long."

"'Kay."

Mara and Nicole walked fast and entered the lunchroom before the line got too big. They got their lunches and sat down at the table where all their friends were. They sat with their friends Danielle, Kayla, Diana, Emily and their closest friend besides each other, Chelsea. They always had tons of laughs within this group, but of course Nicole and Mara were the life of the group. They kept the randomnessly funny things active.

"Why did we even pick life skills? It is so boring." Nicole whined while drinking her tiny bottle of water.

"I know. Try having her first hour." Emily moaned.

"Feel for you girl. You know, when I thought of life skills, I thought we were going to learn how to cook and stuff." Mara said.

"So we could blow up the building!" Nicole exclaimed happily.

"Exactly."

Chelsea laughed. "I'm glad I don't have Fram. I would probably die of boredom if I had that class."

"Well we already died. We are just ghosts to haunt all of you." Nicole said with a fake scary voice. All the girls started to laugh.

"If only." A new voice rang out. The girls looked behind them to see Christie, a curly haired brunette who acted like a total brat, along with her little lackeys that giggled at everything she said, and followed her everywhere.

"But of course life is totally too unfair because you are alive."

Did I forget to mention Christie was Nicole and Mara's arch nemesis? They have been fighting since 7th grade. They're in 8th grade. I know, long time.

"What do you want, be-otch?" asked Mara angrily.

"Oh nothing , I was just walking by. Beautifully by the way, right girls?"

" Right!" Christie's lackeys said at once. Freaking robots.

Christie smirked. "Well, I better go. I don't want to get the loser virus that you people spread on. See ya later clown girls." She said while walking away, clone wannabees following. She called Nicole and Mara clown girls because she, like nearly everyone in the school, had heard about the Joker breaking into the house and yada yada yada. Hence the name "clown" girls.

"I hate that nickname! Why did she have to learn about that?! Damn television." Nicole groaned.

"I know! What is really keeping us from killing her?" Mara asked.

" Juvie and Arkham Asylum." Emily replied.

"Oh yeah, right." Mara said with a hint of disappointment.

"Yeah and we don't want to go to Arkham. We might run into you-know-who." Nicole spoke to Mara.

"Too true. Hopefully we won't see that wack-job ever again."

* * *

The Joker was in his cell, appearing to be minding his own business, but really was planning to get out of there. He held an old article from the newspaper, saying "Teens Take down Clown Prince of Crime!" . Who knows how he got it. He scowled. "Little brats. Making a fool out of me. They'll soon regret it."

He put the article in his pocket, and dramatically fell on the floor. The orderlies saw this and went in the cell. "Please, help. I feel so ill. Need a doctor." The Joker moaned. The orderlies looked at each other and lifted up the Joker. They practically dragged him to the infirmary and set him on the table. "Hold on, we'll get the doctor." The orderly said.

"Yes, please. Hurry." The Clown Prince groaned. With that, the orderly left, but the other one guarded the door. The Joker moaned until he heard the one orderly leave, then he stopped and quietly got up. He picked up a tray used to carry medicine and tip-toed towards the other orderly, who was guarding the door. When he was close enough, he swinged it at the man's head, thus knocking him out.

"Suckers." He giggled madly. He then ran towards the side exit, which was where the staff parking lot was. While he ran, he passed the security guards station. One drinking coffee saw him run past him and spit the coffee out of shock. He pushed the intercom button to warn the other security guards.

"The Joker has escaped! I repeat, the Joker has escaped! All security guards down to sector 7."

The hallways were flooding with security guards, trying to locate and apprehend the Joker. But they didn't know that the Harlequin of Hate was hiding in a janitor closet in the same hallway as the Left Wing exit. As soon as guards ran past that hallway, he got out of his hiding place and ran out the exit door. He ran all across the staff parking lot until he found a decent car to steal. He broke the window, unlocked the car, got in it and hotwired the car to start and drove off wildly, leaving Arkham Asylum in the dust.

The Joker, still having his famous Cheshire cat grin on, pulled out the article. He looked at the picture under the title the two 14 year old girls, Mara Rose and Nicole Travis, in front of the police station with evil and insane eyes.

"You girls only had a little taste of how much "fun" I can be. But when we soon meet again, we're gonna have a real killer time!"

The Joker threw his head back in maniacal laughter, driving towards Gotham City to get his revenge on the unsuspecting young teens that could use a miracle to escape the Joker's fury.

* * *

**Yeah I know it's a short chapter, but I don't want to spoil too much yet. Please R&R**


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you all for the reviews everyone! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It took me awhile to edit. On with the show!_

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Bruce Wayne had just gotten home from a long meeting at Wayne Industries. They were discussing development in each division of the company among other things, and he was very tired. That happens when you have boring and long meetings with being a vigilante all night.

"Good day, Master Bruce. I take it you had an "exciting" day."

"Hello Alfred and it wasn't exactly "exciting". But it has been very beneficial. Since we have been having a plentiful increase in development in our major divisions, we can afford to make new divisions for the company. Which means new jobs for Gotham." the exhausted billionaire stated as he took off his suit jacket and hung it on the coat rack.

"Sounds like it will be a good change for the company, sir. Would you care for some tea, sir?"

Bruce sat down on the couch and turned on the television. "No thank you Alfred. I want to see if there is anything going on in Gotham I should be aware of."

"Very well, sir." Alfred said as he retreated to another room.

Bruce flipped to the news channel, just in time to see a special news bulletin.

"Breaking News report. We've been informed that the insane criminal, the Joker, has escaped Arkham Asylum. Citizens are warned to lock their doors and if the Joker is spotted, do not approach. He is extremely dangerous and is most likely armed."

Bruce's facial expression was pure shock. "Dear God, he's loose again."

Then the billionaire slash vigilante thought of something. He remembered when the Joker was arrested 4 months ago, the two girls that he took hostage. When he was being shipped back to the Asylum, Bruce remembered how he sworn he would get vengeance against them. Exclaimed it actually. That had to be the reason Joker escaped. The Joker always escaped, but usually not after a short period like this. He would have waited awhile to escape if it was a normal scheme.

Bruce was positive that the Clown Prince of Crime was after Nicole and Mara. And who knows what he would do to them if he got a hold of them! He had to find him before those girls get hurt. Or worse.

"Alfred, I have to go."

His faithful butler walked back into the room, appearing coming from the kitchen. "But sir, supper is almost ready."

"Joker is loose, and I have to find him before he finds the girls." Bruce said while walking to the old grandfather clock and opened the secret entrance to the Batcave.

"You mean those young ladies he held hostage before? Good god." Alfred knew about the whole incident. He was informed on all of Batman's cases.

"Yes, I have to get to him before he gets to them."

Alfred sighed. "Well, sir please be……." He didn't get to finish because Bruce already went in the entrance and went off to get suited up and leave for Gotham City.

"…….careful."

* * *

The Joker set foot in his new hideout. It was an old fish processing plant at the docks. Batman shouldn't be able to find him because it isn't like his old hideouts. It isn't an old comedy club, or toy factory, or a gag and trick pranks plant. He even rented this hideout from a salesman under the name Joseph Kerr. He wanted to be discreet this time, because he didn't want the Dork Knight ruining his fun before he teaches those insolent teens a lesson.

He had his henchmen, Moe, Larr, and Cur, and everything set for his little "guests".

He sat down at his desk and pulled out two files. It was all about Mara Rose and Nicole Travis. He pulled this information from secret data bases, and it had everything he needed to find them. Where they lived, where they went to school, everything.

The Joker chuckled wickedly. "These kids will learn not to mess with the Harlequin of Hate." He then laughed hysterically and almost fell out of his chair. Those kids will really, really, really wish they didn't open that door.

* * *

The next day, Mara and Nicole were in lunch with their friends, discussing why Mara should not be president of the country.

"If you were president Mara, we would all be wearing black or dead from watching too much Invader Zim." Nicole giggled. Everyone laughed, including Mara.

"Yeah, that sounds like something I would do." She said with a somewhat proud look on her face.

Meanwhile, Christie and her followers were walking by, and as they passed their table, they pushed Chelsea's milk carton and all the milk spilled on her.

Chelsea gasped. "Aah! What the hell?!"

Nicole stood up. "Hey what's your problem?"

Christie looked back. "What did I do? It is not my fault your friend is so clumsy that she spilled milk on herself."

Now Mara stood up. "Listen bitch. No one messes with my friends and gets away with it!"

"Yeah right, clown girl. What are you gonna do about it? Tell the teacher. A baby would do that. Heh! Ciao losers." She said malevolently as she walked away.

Both the teens sat down. "Ughh! I hate her!" Mara seethed through her teeth.

Nicole handed Chelsea a napkin to dry off the milk. "Ditto. How could someone be that cruel and not have a knife in her back by now?"

"Facts of life, I guess." Chelsea responded while wiping off the remaining milk.

"She so needs bad karma juju." Mara sighed angrily.

As Christie walked by again to throw away her garbage, which was a whole tray of gooey low calorie yogurts, Nicole and Mara looked at each other mischievously. Nicole then held out her foot just as Christie walked by. Christie tripped over Nicole's foot and………

SPLAT!! Christie fell down hard into her tray. When she leaned up, the girls could see her entire shirt, and some of her face and hair, covered in gooey yogurt. The whole sight was freaking hilarious. Mara was laughing hysterically, along with everyone else.

"Aaaaahhhh!!" she screamed ear shatteringly. Then she looked at Nicole with pure fury in her eyes. "Travis!!"

Nicole looked at the female bully with a fake smile. "What did I do? It's not my fault you were so clumsy as to bump into my foot."

"Yeah, and what are you going to do about it? Telling the teacher is for babies, remember." Mara said as her laughter cooled down.

"Ugghhhh!" Christie cried as she stormed out of the cafeteria with her troops right after her. Everyone at the table started laughing again.

"Dudes that was totally a good one!" Emily giggled.

"I know, right." Nicole said with a hint of self accomplishment in her voice.

The bell rang, and everyone exited the cafeteria to their 5th hour classes. Danielle and Diana went to English, Kayla and Emily went to history, Chelsea went to Spanish, Mara went to math, and Nicole went to science.

As soon as Nicole sat at her seat the bell rang. The teacher, Ms. Perkins, entered the classroom and stood in front of the class.

"Today class, we will be working with chemicals to see the kinds of reactions that can occur. You can see the supplies and instructions at your table. As soon as you get your goggles and gloves, you may begin."

Nicole quickly got her safety gear and looked at the instructions. She smiled almost evilly. "Sweet! Dangerous chemicals! Let's see what that random red one and that random green one does." Before she could mix the most likely to explode chemicals together, she heard the intercom speak from the office.

"Nicole Travis and Mara Rose, please come down to the principal's office."

The voice was male, and kind of high pitched. It sounded familiar, but Nicole couldn't put her finger on it.

Ms. Perkins looked puzzled. "That's strange. Mrs. Welkner usually does the announcements." Mrs. Welkner is the secretary who does all the announcements in the morning and at the end of the day. "Must be a substitute. You may go, Nicole."

Nicole got up from her seat and walked slowly to the office, wondering what she was going for. Probably Christie ratting them out on tripping her. Brat!

When she arrived at the front door of the office, Nicole met up with Mara.

"Hey, Mara. Do you know why we're being called here for?"

Mara shook her head. "No. Probably because Christie told on us or something."

"That's what I'm thinking. Is Mrs. Welkner sick today or something?"

"I don't know. I saw her this morning."

"Weird. Well," Nicole sighed. "I guess we better go in and face our doom."

"Whatever."

Mara opened the door and they both walked inside. No one was in there, and the lights were turned off. But the principal's door was opened. "Okay, this is kind of creepy." Mara said.

"You think? Usually all the secretaries and off duty teachers are in here."

"Yeah. But Principal Thomas's office door is open, so he must be in there.

"Yeah, I guess." Nicole reluctantly agreed. They both walked across the room to the Principal's office and slowly walked in.

"Principal Thomas?" Nicole asked, but no one replied.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut, taking the girls by surprise. When they looked to see what made the door slam, they gasped fearfully. Behind them was a man in a purple suit, orange dress shirt, blue bowtie, and had slicked back green hair, white skin, and had a ghastly wide grin. It was the Clown Prince, the Joker.

"Hello kiddos. Miss me?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Mara and Nicole were absolutely speechless. The Clown Prince of Crime, who they had helped sent back to the asylum and who they thought (and hoped) would never see again, had trapped them in the principal's office. Trapped like rats.

"H-how…" Mara stuttered, "…did you get out of Arkham?"

"It was too easy to escape that joint! I mean, those guards do not know when a trap is set. And I got out just to see my two favorite kids." He giggled as he stepped closer towards the girls, making them back away.

"How did you find us?" asked Nicole.

"I have my sources. I know almost everything about you two, so it wasn't hard to find you."

"Where are the office secretaries and our principal?" Mara questioned.

"Glad you asked. They all looked so serious, so I took the liberty to puts some smiles on their faces!"

The Joker walked to a storage room the principal used to put away confiscated items, and opened the door. Inside was the three office secretaries and Principal Thomas, tied up with huge grins on their faces, their eyes staring off into space. They looked dead, but you could barely see them breathing, as if they were trapped in their bodies. The whole scene is pretty horrifying. Nicole tried to keep herself from screaming while Mara tried to stop herself from throwing up.

The Harlequin of Hate laughed maniacally and, while the two girls were distracted by the gruesome image of the school employee victims, grabbed Nicole and Mara by each of their arms and pulled them out of the office and outside the emergency escape door, with his three henchmen waiting by a purple and green van.

"NO! LET US GO!" Nicole screamed.

"SOMEONE HELP US!" Mara also exclaimed.

The Joker handed the girls to his henchmen so they could tie them up, while he watched as the 14 year olds pointlessly struggled.

Once their hands were tied behind their backs, Joker walked up to the girls with two white pieces of cloth.

"And just to make sure no one will hear our little brats scream for help…" Joker proceeded to put the cloth near Nicole.

Right before he could cover Nicole's mouth, a batarang swooshed by and hit right into the van.

"Get away from the girls, Joker." A dark voice rang out from the roof. Everyone looked up to the location of the voice and saw none other than Batman, jumping to the ground and faced the evil clown, his henchmen, and his captives.

"Batsy Batsy. Always here to ruin my fun. Well not this time. Get him boys!"

Moe, Lar, and Cur ran at Batman and instantly started to swing their fists at him. It wasn't long before the obviously better fighter knocked down the henchmen, and stepped towards the Mogul of Mountebanks.

"You're going back to Arkham, Joker."

"That's what you think Batsy!" Joker yelled as he threw two little smoke bombs on the ground.

The air immediately became full of gas, making it nearly impossible to see. Both the girls and Batman started coughing, while the Joker and his now awake henchmen ran into the van, and began to drive away.

"Catch you later, kiddos!" the Clown Prince of Crime yelled out the window as his van drove far out of sight.

As soon as the gas started to fade out, Batman went over to the girls and pulled out a batarang. He used it to cut the ropes off their wrists.

"Are you two alright?" he asked as soon as the restraints were cut.

"Yeah, we're fine." Mara replied while she was rubbing her wrists.

"We run into you a little too much, don't we?" Nicole grinned.

The Caped Crusader smiled. "A little." He pushed a button on his belt, and within seconds, the Batmobile drove itself right in front of them. "We should go to police headquarters."

"Why?" Nicole asked.

"I don't think you two should be alone here." He pushed another button and the top of the car hissed, then opened.

Mara beamed. "Sweet! We get to go in the Batmobile!" Nicole then also grinned as they both got in the shadowy car, on their way to Gotham Police Department

….

As soon as the Clown Prince and his lackeys got back to the warehouse, the Joker grabbed the nearest object and threw it at the wall.

The Joker yelled in anger. "AUGHHH! I WAS SO CLOSE. I ALMOST HAD THOSE LITTLE BRATS IN MY GRASP, AND THE DORK KNIGHT SHOWS UP!"

The henchmen scurried into another room, not wanting to experience their boss's wrath.

As soon as the Joker stopped throwing stuff, he sat down at his desk.

"They were just lucky this time. Next time they won't be fortunate." He looked at the news article with the mentioned girls on it.

"You both will not get away next time." He stared at the grins of the kids' picture, like he was burning holes into it with his hate-filled eyes. "Count on it."

…...

Mara and Nicole sat in Commissioner Gordon's office, along with their parents. Nicole's mom had short dark brown hair and eyes. Mr. Travis had graying light brown hair, blue eyes and glasses. Mara's dad had grey hair, dark eyes and glasses, and her mom was blonde and had dark blue eyes. Both sets of parents looked worried. The teens could only sit and be quiet as the adults discussed what they were going to do about the situation.

"The girls probably shouldn't go home tonight. The Joker knew where they went to school, so he most likely knows where you live. He could take them in the middle of the night." The Commissioner said.

"Then what do you suggest? Should they go into a safe house or something?" Mrs. Rose questioned.

"Doubt that we will. The Joker is highly intelligent. If he can get information from secret databases to find where they go to school, he could find where they would be in a safe house."

"Then what should we do? A psycho is after our kids, and God knows what he wants to do to them!" Mrs. Travis exclaimed.

"Please calm down, ma'am. We don't exactly know what we are going to do at the moment. We need to place the children somewhere where it will be safe and the Joker wouldn't think to find them. We just need to find out where."

"Perhaps I can help." An unknown voice said.

Everyone looked to the door to see none other than Bruce Wayne, who had a brown suit and dark hair and eyes.

"Mr. Wayne! What are you doing here?" Mr. Travis asked, surprised to see his boss.

"I heard about the situation, and I wanted to see if I can help. If the two young ladies need somewhere to stay, I would be happy to volunteer. After all, my mansion is one of the safest places in Gotham. And I would of course want to help out the daughter of one of my best employees and her friend."

Mr. Travis scratched his head. "I don't know."

"I insist, Norman. They would be welcomed at my home. And I will make sure they would be safe. If it is alright with the commissioner."

Gordon nodded. "Wayne Manor is highly protected with security systems. And the Joker probably wouldn't think to look for them there. They would be the most safe there, Mr. and Mrs. Travis and Rose."

Both sets of parents shook their heads in agreement, taking the police commissioner's word. So it was decided that Mara and Nicole would stay at Wayne Manor.

"You folks should pack the girl's things and Mr. Wayne will pick them up tonight. And just to be safe, they probably shouldn't go to school either."

The teens jumped up in happiness. "Yes!"

"But to make sure they don't fall behind, we will send the homework to the mansion."

Both the girls sat down suddenly and glumly. "Awwww!"

All the adults chuckled, even Mr. Wayne.

Later, as the girls had their things packed and they had a moment of goodbyes and painful hugs, the two girls got in the back of the limo, with Mr. Wayne and Alfred holding the door.

"Good evening, young ladies. My name is Alfred Pennyworth, and I am the butler. I will be supervising you along with Master Wayne."

"Hi, I'm Nicole."

"'Sup, I'm Mara."

Alfred tipped his chauffer hat. "Charmed."

They sat in the back, Bruce talking with the adults outside. Nicole and Mara looked at each other, with slightly worried eyes.

"Man, this is so messed up. An insane criminal wants to kill us, and now we have to stay at my dad's boss's mansion. Totally weird day."Nicole sighed.

"No kidding. But hey, we get to stay at a mansion! I bet Christie would be so jealous."

"Very true."

Bruce Wayne got into the car, and the limo started off back to the mansion. Nicole and Mara were silent the whole trip there. When they finally got there, the girls got out of the limo and stared up in awe. The manor was freaking huge! They both had their mouths hung open, eyes wide and admiring of the super huge place they were going to stay at.

Bruce Wayne chuckled. "Yes it is pretty big, isn't it? Come on, I'll show you to your rooms."

The 14 year olds stopped staring and followed Bruce Wayne into the mansion.

The kids stared all over the main hallway.

"Whoa, this place is way bigger on the inside!" Mara exclaimed.

They followed the billionaire up the long staircase, turned right at a hallway then left, and then they stopped in front of a door. Mr. Wayne opened the door, and the young girls gasped. It was a huge, and not to mention, beautiful room. With blue curtains and a matching bed, with a beautiful shade of purple carpeting, it was absolutely perfect.

"This will be your room Nicole. Do you like it?"

Nicole was too speechless for words. She just shook her head in agreement.

"There is another bedroom that connects with this one, through that door there. That will be your room, Mara." He said pointing to a door on the right."

"Okey dokey." The before mentioned girl whispered, star struck at the room like Nicole.

Finally, Nicole snapped out of her daze. "Pillow fight!"

"Yeah!"

They ran into the room, bags still with them, and grabbed the humongous pillows and started hitting each other with them.

"I got you, sucka!"

"Oh no you don't!"

While they continued on with their very violent pillow war, the playboy/vigilante laughed to himself and closed the door. As he walked away, he was thinking about the whole situation with the girls.

"Things are going to get interesting around here."

….

**With these two girls Bruce, it will definitely be interesting. Hope you all liked this chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

_Hey it is chappie #10! And to all of you people who reviewed my story, thank you for your comments. You guys are awesome. Enjoy!!_

* * *

_**Chapter 10**_

Now the Joker was furious. He and his lackeys drove by and spied on both the girl's families. Neither of them were in sight. They would've gone in the homes to do a more thorough search, but the Joker knew better. He had figured Batman had put the brats into a safe house for protection, so he hacked into the Gotham Police Department private files. It was protocol to have people put into witness protection logged in to a certain file, which had their location, fake names, etc. He looked for almost an hour, but no sign of the teens anywhere. So it was clear that they weren't put into a protection program.

The idea of him not being able to find two ordinary teenagers made the Harlequin of Hate even madder. He threw a random piece of wood that was lying around at a wall, growling while he did it.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!" he yelled out loud to no one in particular.

He was about to throw something else, but he instantly calmed himself. There was no way to little brats would make him lose his edge. NO WAY.

He chuckled darkly and maniacally. "They can't hide forever. The minute they come out of hiding, they are mine."

He then started his genuine screech of laughter, but this time, the level of insanity was MUCH higher, and all the more dangerous.

* * *

Nicole and Mara had just woken up from about an 8 hour sleep. They stayed up 'til 1:00, and Alfred forced them to wake up at 9:00. So they were kind of tired.

When they got dressed, brushed their teeth and all that, they headed downstairs. As soon as they were close to the kitchen, the girls immediately smelled something good.

"Good morning Ms. Nicole and Ms. Mara. I hope you are hungry, because I have just made some French toast."

"Sure." Nicole replied.

"Coolio!" Mara half said, half exclaimed.

Alfred set two plates of French toast on the long dining room table, and the two girls sat down and started to eat the breakfast.

"Mmmmm. This is really good!" Mara said.

"Yeah Alfred. This is way better than what my parents make." Nicole also said.

"Thank you, young misses." He said while putting juice on the table. "When you are done, you may put the dishes in the sink. I shall attend to them later on. If you two need anything else, just call for me."

"Where's Mr. Wayne?" Nicole asked.

"Master Wayne is at work right now. He usually works most of the day. But he should be home in time for supper."

With that, the elderly butler left the teens in the dining room.

About ten minutes later, when the girls finished their breakfast, they entered the kitchen to put away the dishes. They were surprised to see the kitchen was VERY huge.

"Damn! This place is huge!" exclaimed Nicole.

"Yeah, no kidding. This is as big as the school lunchroom. Maybe bigger."

Nicole aimlessly looked in random cabinets. She saw lots of food and weird ingredient mixes. Probably for fancy food.

Nicole gasped. "We should totally bake something! Like a cake or brownies. Just to pass the time."

"I don't feel like it."

"Fine, I'll do it by myself."

"Nicole ……. Remember the last time you tried to bake?"

Nicole's mind was now filled with the memory of the HUGE explosion of chocolate in her kitchen. Her parents were furious to say the least. She was grounded for a month. Apparently cupcakes did not like her.

"Oh, yeah. Heh heh." Nicole chuckled shyly. "Then what are we going to do?"

"Well, when in doubt…… TO THE COMPUTER!"

The girls then ran to what appeared to be the lounge or more commonly referred to as a "family room". They looked all over the area, but couldn't find one trace of a computer. When Alfred walked by, the girls went up to him.

"Um Alfred, do you know where Mr. Wayne has a computer? We want to go on it for a little while if he doesn't mind." Nicole asked.

"Master Wayne is usually at work so long, he has no use for a computer. I am sorry to sound rude, but I have some things to attend to, young mistresses.

When Alfred walked out, Mara whispered, "No computer?"She dropped to her knees. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"It's okay Mara, its okay." Nicole patted the shoulder of her friend. "Let's go see if anything is on TV, okay?"

Mara nodded her head and slowly got up, and Nicole led her to where a big TV was spotted.

* * *

Batman was in front of his Batcomputer, researching in the dark deep shadows of the Batcave. He was looking for any possible hide outs of the Joker. He usually hides out in old toy factories or comedy clubs. Nothing seems to be showing of those places.

His loyal butler walked down from the secret entry way from Wayne Manor to The Batcave.

"How's the search coming, sir?"

Batman got up from his chair and looked towards Alfred. "Not very good. Every hideout that the Joker is usually attracted to is either used by small time thugs or empty. He must be hiding in a less noticeable hideout, somewhere that is not his style. The question is where?"

"Perhaps you should take a break, Master Bruce. There are two young ladies upstairs that might want some attention."

"Maybe later Alfred. I have to find Joker before he figures out where they are." With that the Caped Crusader continued his research.

Alfred sighed and went back upstairs.

* * *

Mara flipped through every channel on the TV. The 14 year olds could not believe there was NOTHING on! You would think a billionaire would have better channels on his television.

"Uggghhhhh. I am so bored! There is nothing to do around here. No computer, nothing on TV, and we can't go outside in case someone sees us." Mara groaned.

"We could get start our homework."

"……….."

Both girls started laughing hysterically. These teens might be good students, but they were NOT nerds.

"Well how about we look upstairs or something? Maybe we could find something to entertain us." Nicole suggested after they stopped laughing.

"Whatevs."

The teens turned off the TV, got up off the couch, and headed upstairs. They went into several rooms and couldn't find one thing that sparked their interests. The only thing they found interesting was that mansion had a lot of damn rooms.

Finally, with no rooms left to wander in (surprisingly), they decided to check the attic. They found a case of stairs leading up to the said room and climbed up them. When they got to the top, they surveyed the attic. It was pretty dusty, that was for sure. They looked in old boxes, until Mara found an old photo album.

"Hey Nicole, look at this." She called out to her friend. "It's an old family album." Mara flipped through the pages and stopped at a picture. It showed a man who had grey hair and a moustache, a woman in a fancy dress, and a little boy, no more than eight years old.

"Who are these people?"

"I think that is Mr. Wayne as a kid with his parents." Nicole replied.

"Really? Well where are his parents now? Wouldn't they live here too?"

"My dad told me that they were murdered years ago, killed by mugger. And right in front of Mr. Wayne, too. He was just a little kid."

"Damn, poor guy. I couldn't imagine having to go through that as a little kid. I wonder what that kind of thing does to a kid."

Nicole shrugged. "Hey what's this?" She picked up an old sled, which could hold two people on it. Nicole suddenly got an idea involving that sled and the very long case of stairs…………

* * *

"Uhh Nicole? Do you think this is a good idea?" asked Mara as the girls dragged the sled to the top of the stairs, which continued on to the main hallway at the way bottom of the steps.

"Of course I am. Since when have I suggested anything too dangerous?"

"Should I start according to date or alphabetically?"

"…………..Shut up. Now let's get on." The girls then got on the sled, Mara in back and Nicole in front. They angled themselves in a good direction and were set to go.

"This is just like that one scene in Home Alone, where the kid sleds down the stairs and goes out the front door." Mara said.

"Yeah but we are cooler than Macaulay Culkin, so he could eat our dust." Nicole said while pushing the sled off the top ledge, therefore pushing the sled down the stairs.

The whole ride was intense, yet bumpy. They screamed and laughed like it was a roller coaster ride. They were almost to the end of their stair ride when Alfred came walking in front of the stairs.

"WATCH OUT!!" both the girls exclaimed.

Alfred looked to the stairs and yelled out and fell backwards, just missing the speeding sled crashing into the ground, knocking both the girls off the sled and landing on the floor. Hard.

The girls groaned in pain and looked up from the floor to the butler towering over the girls. They both laughed nervously.

"Perhaps you two young ladies should "hang out" in the study room while dinner is being prepared."

"Yes sir." The teens said while getting off the floor and heading to a big room full of books, some couches and a grandfather clock. The two girls collapsed on two different couches.

"Well that was genius. Way to go Nicole."

"Like it was all my fault."

"It was."

"Well you were an accomplice, so shut up."

Both girls didn't talk for awhile, but they noticed it was getting dark out. They didn't know what time it was, so when Nicole looked at the grandfather clock, she noticed something.

"Hey Mara?"

"What?"

"It's about 6:00, right?"

"Yeah I guess so. Why?"

"That clock over there is wrong then. Both hands are near the twelve, and it is too late to be 12 in the afternoon and too early to be 12 at night."

"So?"

"So, I am going to fix it so the time is correct." Nicole said while getting off the couch and heading towards the clock.

"Why?" Mara both groaned and sighed.

"Cause I am weird like that, and it is the least I can do for Mr. Wayne letting us stay here."

Nicole reached up and started to move the hands. As soon as she touched them though, the clock rumbled and the clock opened up, revealing a secret passageway.

"Holy crap" Mara said while walking to Nicole, whose face was as shocked as hers was. "What is it?"

"It's a passageway to somewhere."

"To where, though?"

"Probably somewhere dangerous and too secret for us to know about." Nicole replied.

"…..So obviously we are going down it."

"Duh."

The 14 year olds slowly went down the stone stairs, trying to see in the dark. It took a little while for them to get to the bottom of the stairs for the reasons that it was a long case of stairs and they couldn't see where the hell they were going. But when they reached the bottom, they gasped.

It was a giant cave, with a big computer, some lab tables with chemicals and beakers and a car they recognized only as the Batmobile. This was the legendary Batcave. Lair of the Batman.

"Oh…my….god." Nicole barely managed to get out. "We are in the Batcave. THE Batcave."

"This is so cool." Said Mara as she walked more into the cave, Nicole following. She stopped at a table that had all sorts of gadgets that could be found in Batman's utility belt. She picked up a batarang and examined it.

"Do you know what this means?!" Nicole exclaimed. "This means Batman's real identity is…….." she said while turning around, only to be confronted with the large shadow that was Batman. Nicole gasped while he looked at her and Mara, who became aware of his presence soon after. Batman then reached for his mask and slid it back like a hood. The face was a man with dark eyes, hair and a stern expression, a face the girls knew fairly well.

"……Bruce Wayne." Nicole finished.

Bruce then said in his Batman voice, "I think we should talk."

* * *

**I know I jumped a little too far in this chapter, but I was impatient with myself. We all get like that, right? Plus I was writing this at 3 in the morning XD. Please R&R**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The teenagers couldn't believe it. Not only did they find out the Batman's identity, they found out he is Bruce Wayne: Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and Nicole's dad's boss. The girls were shocked to say the least. After the billionaire/ vigilante caught them in the Batcave, he and the girls went upstairs back to Wayne Manor, much to a surprised Alfred, who was then entering the room to tell the girl's supper was ready when he saw the entrance to the cave open.

"Oh dear. I am sorry Master Bruce; I didn't know the girls would have figured out how to open the entrance."

"It's fine. Could we have some time alone, Alfred?"

"Of course sir." With that, Alfred left the room.

"You two can sit down." Bruce said to Mara and Nicole, who did exactly that. The Dark Knight, now dressed as Bruce Wayne, sat down on a separate chair and sighed. He knew it would probably be easier that the girls knew he was Batman, so he wouldn't have to hide, but also it was hard at the same time, because the more people who knew the playboy's alter ego, the more dangerous things would be for those people. Especially for kids.

"So……" Nicole started to say. "You're really Batman."

Bruce nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Wow this is totally frickin awesome." Mara said.

"What do we need to talk about?"

Bruce replied, " We need to talk about this whole situation. About the Joker and my identity."

"We won't tell anyone about your identity. We promise. Right Nicole?"

"Duhh. Why would we tell? Being a part of the few who know who Batman is, is way too cool."

"Yes, but I want you two to know that knowing my identity is dangerous, because a lot of my enemies would do almost anything to learn it. Even hurt innocents."

"Well we kind of figured that. That always is a part of the package, but we can handle that. But what do you need to talk about the Joker for?" Mara asked.

Bruce sighed. "You two both know why the Joker is after you, right?"

Nicole replied, "Yeah, he is ticked that us kids helped put him back in Arkham and made him look like a fool, so he wants to kill us."

"Well you are right about he is mad about you two putting him in Arkham, but I don't think he will kill you."

"What?" both the girls asked/exclaimed.

"The Joker wouldn't try this hard to get you if he was just going to kill you two. I think he has something else just as bad planned for you."

Mara looked confused. "Like what, exactly?"

Bruce looked down. He didn't want to tell the girls this, but Nicole and Mara deserved to know what that psychopath wanted to do to them. No matter what though, Bruce was not going to let it happen.

"Well, I believe he wants to….." he could barely get the word out. ".._torture _you into insanity. To show he can drive two innocent minds that defeated him into madness. For a big joke of revenge.

Both the teens were at a loss of words. Even though Nicole knew the Harlequin of Hate was going to do something like this (said in chapter 5) , she still couldn't believe it.

"WHAT!!!!" Mara exclaimed. "Torture us? That is too sick! Why would he…..how…….UGHHHHH!"

"Calm down, Mara! He doesn't even know where we are. And besides, we have Batman protecting us."

Mara sighed. "Yeah, I know. It's just really…..scary to think about someone who wants to turn us into little insane freaks for a sick joke."

"I will not let that mad man get to you. I promise you both." Bruce said.

"Okay." Both the girls mumbled.

"All right then." Bruce then smiled trying to cheer the girls up. "How about we go eat dinner now? Alfred makes excellent pasta."

"Okay."

"Sure."

The three then went into the dining room, where the long table had three plates of fancy looking pasta at one end of it. "Everything alright now, Master Bruce?"

"Everything is fine now Alfred." Bruce replied while he and the girls sat down.

"Very well sir." Alfred then went off back into the kitchen.

"Can we ask you some questions?" Nicole asked as they all started to eat their very delicious looking pasta.

Bruce thought for a minute. He was going to say no, but the girls looked at him with pleading eyes, basically begging him to answer their deepest questions. _I guess I might as well answer some. How come I can put fear into the eyes of criminals, beat psychopaths and save the city constantly, but I can't deny two 14 year olds' requests? _He asked himself in his mind. Bruce chuckled internally. _Maybe I am getting soft._

"Ok, you can ask me some questions, but only a few_._"

"Sweet! So where is Robin?"

"College." Bruce replied

"Do you know Batgirl?" Mara asked.

"She is not really affiliated with me, nor do I know who she is (which is a total lie, which you find out in the episode, Old Wounds), but I appreciate what she tries to help do.

"Why did you choose bats as a symbol?"

"Because bats are frightening creatures, and I wanted to strike fear into the hearts of criminals."

"Do we call you Mr. Wayne or Mr. Bruce or what?"

"You two can call me Bruce."

"Ok, one last question." Mara said.

"Alright."

"…….Can you teach us karate?"

"No." Bruce smiled.

"Why not?" asked Nicole.

"Because after that whole sled down the stairs incident, you two knowing martial arts might be a little too dangerous for the sake of the mansion, and everyone in it."

"Oh, heh heh. You uh, know about that?"

"I have cameras in the mansion."

"Dang. That would be kinda cool if it wasn't being used to possibly get us in trouble." Said Mara.

Bruce Wayne chuckled. These kids were funny. A little weird, but funny. As soon as everyone was finished, Bruce said, "Time to get ready for bed."

"But it is only 9:30!" exclaimed Mara.

"It isn't good to stay up very late."

"But you do it every night _Batman_." Nicole smirked.

"Not the point. Besides, you two have homework to do tomorrow, don't you?" Bruce said with a small grin on his face.

"Awww man!" they both groaned.

"Now get ready. I'll be up in a minute."

The fourteen year olds then got up from the table and went up the stairs. They got their pajamas on, brushed their teeth, blah blah, and went into Mara's room. Nicole was wearing a light blue shirt and blue and green plaid pajama bottoms. Mara was wearing a black tank top and black pajama bottoms.

"It will be really weird to sleep in a mansion." Said Nicole.

"Yeah it will be. Oh yeah, I got to feed Chelsea!"

"What?"

Mara then pulled out a cage from under her bed, with a tan hamster in it. She put a little food bowl in there, filled it up from a bag in her backpack, and put it in the cage.

"You have a hamster?"

"Yeah, I got her last week. I named her after Chelsea because she gave me the idea to get a hamster."

"And you are telling me this now because………."

"I forgot to tell you."

"Ok then."

Bruce then walked in the door. "Ready for bed girls?"

"Yeah." They still thought it was stupid to go to bed this early, but they were getting kind of tired from everything that was going on today.

"Good…………why is there a hamster on the floor?"

"Cause she is my pet. I would've left her at home, but my parents would probably forget about feeding her and stuff." Mara replied.

"Oh….kay. Well let's get into bed now."

"It's still early." Nicole whined.

"It's almost 10 thirty."

"Wow time goes by fast."

"Yes it does, now quit stalling guys and get to bed."

Mara climbed into her bed while Nicole went in her room next door.

" 'Night, Mara."

"Night, Nicole. 'Night Bruce."

"Good night Mara." Bruce said as he turned off the lights and went into Nicole's room. Nicole got into her bed and Bruce sat on her bed.

"You're going to go look for Joker now?"

"Yes. I will find him before he hurts you and Mara."

"I know. But how long do you think we will stay here until it is safe to go home?"

"I am not sure. As soon as the Joker is captured and locked back into Arkham."

"I am sorry about your parents."

Bruce looked shocked, taken by surprise at the girl's mentioning of his deceased family.

"That's why you are Batman, right? To avenge your parents?"

Bruce didn't really know what to say. "Well yes……and no. I am who I am because I want to make sure no one goes through the pain of losing a loved one like I lost my parents, and to rid Gotham of crime."

"That sounds kind of like a burden."

"It is not for fun, Nicole. It is my responsibility, and it always will be, no matter what."

"I think I get that. That is really cool of you."

"Thanks. Now you should be getting to bed."

"All right." Nicole said while laying down in her covers and closing her eyes.

Bruce headed to the door and turned off the lights.

"Good night, Nicole."

"'Night Bruce."

With that, the billionaire closed the door gently and walked away towards the stairs to head into the Batcave, hoping to continue his search for the Clown Prince of Crime. He was also thinking of those two young girls, a little weird, but they were great kids. But his face instantly turned angry at the thought of the Joker trying to turn them into……monsters.

Bruce went in the cave and changed into his Batman costume. He went into his Batmobile and drove out the exit, headed towards Gotham City.

_Joker I will find you, and you will have to get past my dead body to get near those girls._

* * *

**I know i put sentimental stuff in there. I am usually not into that stuff but i guess every good story has to have them, not to sound cocky or anything XD. R&R for comments, concerns etc please.**


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter 12 is here! I had some writers block, but now I am back on track (at least for this chapter ;D). My second story, the Bet, the Regret, and the Speedo is also up, so I would REALLY appreciate it if you guys read it. Anyway, on with the show!_

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**Chapter 12**

Batman walked into the dark building, the surroundings covered in shadows. He followed a lone, long hallway. He got a tip that the Joker was there from the street, and he came to the said location as fast as he could. He needed to stop the Joker before he got those girls. What seemed like hours, the Dark Knight finally reached the end of the hallway. He reached for the door, and pushed it open, walking inside as he did it. He was now in a large room; he didn't really see anything because it was engulfed in darkness, but he could tell it was big. He didn't see anyone, or hear any movement. The Caped Crusader started to get a little impatient.

"Joker!!!" he called out into the shadows. "Joker, where are you?!"

It didn't take long before a reply came in the form of laughter. A very familiar, high pitched laughter. The Joker then emerged from the shadows and smiled his genuine smile, with a darker look in his eyes though.

"Batsy, what a surprise! If I had suspected company, I would've cleaned the house better." He said in mock surprise, followed by maniacal giggling.

"Enough games, Joker. I am taking you in. This time I will personally see to it that you will stay locked up in Arkham so you will never hurt the girls."

Even Batman didn't even suspect the full blown insane laughter that escaped the Clown Prince of Crime's lips. _What the devil is he laughing at now? _Bruce questioned.

The Joker stopped laughing. "_Before I hurt the girls?_ Ha! Joke's on you Bats."

"What are you talking about, Joker?"

"See, Batman. Why would I have to go hurt the girls now if I already have them in my possession?"

Batman's heart started to race when he said that. He couldn't have had them, he just couldn't.

"What?" Batman asked, a little quieter than he expected it to be. Batman was afraid for the girls. In the short time he has known them, he realized they were really great kids, and he didn't want anything to happen to them, especially by this monster.

"I already have the brats with me, and did what I intended to do with them, too." The madman grinned. The fear and worry in Batman's slits for eyes became more apparent.

_That's impossible! I just left the mansion about an hour ago. He couldn't have possibly…… _Bruce didn't get to finish his thoughts, for the clown continued.

"Oh they struggled bravely at first, but all too soon they succumbed to the madness."

"No…." Batman struggled out in a whisper. _He didn't.......he wouldn't do something that....sick...would he?_

"Oh yes. Would you like to meet them now? They are such little treasures now that I _educated _them to behave." The Joker then turned behind him and whistled.

A figure began to arise from the shadows, when in the light, Batman could see the features. The figure appeared to be about 5'6, and wore a jester's costume similar to Harley's, but the colors were purple and green. Beneath the domino mask, Batman could see big bulging eyes with little black pupils. Based off the shape and height of the figure, Batman deduced that the clown was…..Mara.

_No…………..._

Mara walked next to the Joker, with a grin as big and similar as his. "Now this one is named Jester. She was a difficult child to teach, but eventually she got the hang of it."

Batman tried to find something in her eyes, but only saw…..nothing. What did he do to her to make her eyes go from a charming funniness to nothing?

"Now last, but not least, my final apprentice." The Mogul of Mountebanks motioned towards the same side of darkness Mara had came out from. Batman saw another figure come out of the pitch blackness. This one was slightly shorter than Mara, about 5'5, but what made Batman gasp was the features. The girl had short green hair, with now white skin. She had the same suit the Joker wore, but instead of pants, she wore a purple skirt, with black dress shoes and white socks that reached her knees. And instead of the blue bowtie around her neck, it was in her hair like a headband. The worst part of it was the grin. With that huge, red smile, she looked almost like a young female version of the Joker. And since Mara came out first, the clown girl that now stood more in front of the Joker had to be…….

_Nicole…no…..NO NO NO NO!!!!!_

"This one here," the clown put his hands on her shoulders, "was definitely a challenging little girl. But it didn't take that long until she found the funny side of life. Isn't that right, _Jokette?_" He smiled insanely.

Nicole's reply was laughter. Hollow, disturbing laughter. Her eyes showed no emotion, even to go with that big smile of hers. They were as empty as her laughter. Mara started to laugh the same way too, and the Joker smiled one of his most disturbing and angering smiles yet to Batman. Batman's reaction was complete shock mixed with horror, and it was clearly visible even with his mask on. But this shock quickly turned into anger. Pure, undeniable anger.

Batman roared furiously and charged at Joker, slamming him into the wall. "You will pay for this Joker. You've gone too far!!!" This made the Harlequin of Hate chuckle darkly. "Not likely, Batman. You could never kill me, even if you wanted to. And this time, the last laugh is mine." The Joker pulled out a joy buzzer, and placed it on Batman's chest. It electrified him with excruciating shocks, making him let go of Joker and flying backwards on his back. The Joker then walked over to Batman, grabbing a weird black and orange looking gun from seemingly out of nowhere, and pointed it at Batman, who was still on the ground.

"You've lost, Bats. These kids are mine now. You failed them, even when you said you would protect them no matter what……_Bruce._"

Batman's eyes widened. "What? You didn't think I wouldn't try to get as much information out of them as possible, did you? Heh heh, how does it feel to know that you couldn't even save two kids from me, Brucey? You must feel like such a failure, don't you?" The Joker giggled darkly. He was about to pull the trigger, but then stopped. He turned behind him and threw the gun to Nicole.

"Here you go kiddo. Deliver Batsy's punch line." Nicole walked up to Batman, the Joker backing up next to Mara. Nicole pointed the gun at Batman, laughing that emotionless laugh. Mara's laughter could be heard too, along with Joker's chuckles. She pulled the trigger, a BANG! flag popping out.

"Nicole……don't do this." Batman pleaded, trying to reach the young girl he started to get to know. The funny yet when she wanted to be, mature young girl who depended on him.

Ceasing her laughter, Nicole replied in a weaker and hollower version of her normal voice, "You should've saved us, Bruce. You said you would protect us. You failed us."

"I didn't know he.......I'm sorry Nicole."

"Goodbye.....failure."

Before Bruce could say anything else in reply, Nicole pulled the trigger once more.

A loud shot was made.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....

Bruce awoke with a start in his bed, his face dripping in sweat. He looked around his surroundings and saw he was in his room, not a dark unknown building. _A dream, it had all been a dream. No. A nightmare. But it seemed so real……._

Bruce's face untensed a bit, and he looked at the clock on the table next to him. It read 5:30. He got back from an unsuccessful search for the Joker at around a quarter to 4 am. He got up from his bed and went into the bathroom. He washed his face and when he came out, he decided, after witnessing that horrible nightmare, to check on the young teenagers. He walked out of his room slowly. _Like i did in the dream. _Bruce shook those thoughts away. It didn't take too long before he reached Mara's room. He opened the door and peaked in. He saw Mara peacefully sleeping, not a big grin or jester's hat in sight. Just her frame moving up and down with her breathing, with a gentle snore.

He smiled as he closed the door gently and walked over to Nicole's bedroom next door. He creaked opened the door and walked over to her bedside, seeing as she was faced the other way from the door. He saw her sleeping just as peacefully as the other girl, no evil smiles or green hair or anything. He both sighed and smiled, thankful that nightmare was _just _a nightmare. He looked at her sleepong form and remeber what the Joker made her into; a little monster that looked so much like him. He remembered her words.

"_You should have saved us Bruce. You failed us."_

Bruce shook his head to clear those thoughts away. He looked at the real Nicole, still sleeping. He put his hand gently on her head. "I promise I will not fail you, Nicole. You or Mara. I swear it."

He then walked out the bedroom door, closing it softly as he did. He walked back to his bedroom and lay in his bed, putting back the covers on him. He didn't want to sleep, but he knew even Batman had to sleep for energy. He put his head on his pillow and started to ponder things, but all too soon he drifted into sleep. This time, without nightmares.

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_So? What did you all think? I know the nightmare was a lot like Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker flashback, but I couldn't resist putting that in there. Please review by clicking the blue words on the bottom. Thank you._


	13. Chapter 13

_Okay like the past couple chapters, it will be mostly about Bruce and the girls, but don't worry, I will put Joker in soon. If you haven't read my second story, The Bet, the Regret and the Speedo, please read it. Any who on with the show!_

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**Chapter 13**

Nicole and Mara woke up at around 11:30 am, and as soon as they got dressed and all that good stuff, they went downstairs. They figured it would be a fairly regular boring day, besides staying at Batman's mansion with a psycho trying to find them. What they didn't figure was seeing Bruce Wayne at the table reading a newspaper and having a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Hello girls, glad to see you are awake finally." He smiled as he looked up from his paper.

"Uhh, hi Bruce. One question: why are you home? I mean don't you have Wayne Ind. Business or Batman patrol or something?" Mara asked.

"Yeah, I mean you are usually gone for the day like yesterday." Nicole said.

Bruce put down his newspaper as the girls sat down next to him. "I took the day off. I figured I said I would watch over you while you stay here, so I intend to keep my promise."

"But what about finding the Joker and patrolling and stuff?"

Bruce tensed a bit at the mention of the mad clown. "Don't worry I intend to find him as soon as you two are in bed tonight."

"Ok." Both the girls said.

Alfred then walked in the room holding two trays. "Good morning young misses, I hope you don't mind that I already made you two pancakes."

"PANCAKES!" Mara exclaimed.

"Sweet!" Nicole said happily. As soon as Alfred laid down the trays of pancakes in front of the teenagers, they immediately started eating. Rather quickly to add. Bruce had a look of amusement and wonder. _I guess these kids like their pancakes. _Bruce chuckled. _Well at least they are not shy. _As soon as the apparently ravenous girls were done with their pancakes (under two minutes I must add), they sat contently in their chairs, leaning in which made them look like they were going to slip down from the seat.

"Man those pancakes were good." Mara sighed.

"Alfred can really cook. Would you mind after this whole situation that we kidnap him so he can cook for us?" Nicole said.

Bruce laughed. "No I need him here to take care of this mansion when I am busy."

"Oh come on, we can trade; Alfred for our……moms." Mara said.

Both the girls then looked on the ground and frowned. Even though they haven't been gone very long, they still miss home, especially their parents. Bruce sympathized for the 14 year olds; they have been through a lot and they can't even be with their parents because it is too dangerous.

"You both will be able to go home soon, I promise. You will see your parents in no time." Bruce smiled hopefully at the down teenagers.

"Yeah I guess." Nicole looked up and showed a small smile on her face.

Mara then smiled. "Yeah I mean we are protecting them by doing this. And in no time we are gonna beg to come back here cause they will be the same old annoying parents again."

Nicole laughed, Mara soon following. Bruce wondered how two teenagers could be so down before then cheer each other right back up. These girls are just very close friends, Bruce figured. After all, they stuck together through this whole ordeal. Bruce thought this was pretty admirable, to be this close of friends when something that could hurt them to the point of death is occurring in their lives. That or it was hormones.

"Well, while it is still early, maybe you two should start your homework." Bruce suggested while smirking.

"AWWWWW!!" The girls groaned. "Come on, do we have to?" Mara whined.

"Yeah Bruce, can't t wait?"

"Now now. If you procrastinate too long, it will just make it harder. Don't you think it would be easier to do your homework a day at a time instead of doing it all at once?"

"Yeah, but….." Nicole started.

"No buts. Now your homework is in the study room, so you can do it there."

The girls groaned but they didn't complain. Honestly it was sort of pointless to argue with the Batman. You could be the best lawyer ever and still lose to the mighty bat glare; they never experienced it personally but heard it was supposed to be very scary. So they got up and miserably walked to the study room to do homework. Bruce grinned at the teenagers while they left.

_Teenagers._

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....

A couple hours later……

"Nicole, help me with this problem!" Mara yelled to her friend, even though she was only a few feet away from her.

"What?" Nicole asked not looking up from her worksheet.

"What is the formula for finding the volume for cylinders again?"

They were currently working on math homework. They may not have the same math class hour, but they had the same teacher, Mr. Zolo. They were working on volumes for shapes currently. Ughh.

"I think it is V= 3.14 times the radius squared times the height." Nicole replied.

"Okay, thanks."

About two minutes later, Mara said, "Nicole?"

"Mmhmm?" she mumbled still working on a problem.

"I'm bored."

"That's good for you, Mara. Just do your homework so we can be done with this."

"Whatever." Mara then returned to her math.

Bruce Wayne stood in the doorway and spied on the girls. He had been every now and then for the past two or so hours. He remembered doing this with Dick when he was younger; checking to see if he was doing his homework while at the same time watching how he learned and grew up. Of course it is a little different with two 14 year old girls, but it felt somewhat the same nonetheless.

Finally Bruce came in and walked towards Mara and Nicole. "How's the homework going, girls?"

Nicole started writing faster. "Just a min….DONE! Finally." Nicole sighed as she put her worksheet in her math book, setting it aside.

"What?! You are done? How did you get finished so fast?"

"Because I am smarticle."

Mara muttered something and started working faster on her math homework.

"So," Bruce started, "what kind of homework did you two have to do?" He didn't know why he asked that; he was just trying to make conversation.

"Oh the usual: English, history, exploratory language, life skills…"

"Yuck." Mara interrupted.

"Science and math." Nicole finished

"I see, are any of them hard?" Bruce questioned.

"Not really, but life skills is very boring. Especially the teacher."

"I know! Mrs. Fram talks like she is a thousand years old, and drones on about stuff that is common sense." Mara interjected again.

"Exactly."

"Done!" Mara exclaimed. She put away her stuff and lay lazily across the floor, where she was sitting.

"That took forever." Mara sighed.

"Do you complain about everything?"

"No………"

"I got an idea! Let's show Bruce what Chelsea can do."

"Okay." Mara got up and ran up the stairs, A few minutes later, she came back down with the hamster cage breathing hard. "Too….many….stairs." she breathed out. Both Bruce and Nicole had to hide their smiles, but Nicole still laughed at her friend's exhaustion.

Mara set down the cage on the floor and took out Chelsea the hamster. She also took out a big blue rubber ball and put it on a nearby table. Nicole motioned Bruce to come closer to the table, which he did. Mara put Chelsea on the ball, and as soon as she let go, the tan hamster started to balance on the ball. The hamster rolled left, then right, balancing like a pro.

"Wow." Bruce said.

"I know, we found out she could do that this morning before we came downstairs." Said Nicole.

"My hamster is just that awesome." Mara smiled. She then started to hum circus music, making Nicole giggle and Bruce grin.

Alfred then walked in. "Dinner is served, everyone." He said then walked out.

"Dinner? Already?" Mara asked.

"Yes, it is about 5 now, "Bruce said. Damn time does go by fast. "but I wanted us to have dinner a little early tonight."

"Oh, okay." Nicole said.

Mara put Chelsea in her cage and the three walked out of the study and towards the dining room.

"Hey Bruce?" Mara asked.

"Yes?"

"We need to get you a computer here ASAP."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The Joker paced in his office, his henchmen in front of him standing straight like army recruits. He has had his men searching for those two little brats the whole time, and every time they said they were not found. It was getting more frustrating by the minute. He may have been willing to wait until they eventually came out of hiding, but the Clown Prince of Crime was NOT a patient man.

"Are you sure you saw no sign of them?" He stopped pacing and asked his men with anger coating it.

"No sir, we haven't found them." The shortest one, Moe, replied.

The Joker scowled and returned back to his pacing. _Where could those two little twerps be?! _

Finally he couldn't take it anymore, and the Joker started to yell furiously and threw a random cup at the wall, shattering it.

"WHERE COULD THOSE BRATS BE?! We have been searching for DAYS! Batman could not have hid them that good! We have searched every part of this stupid city! Probably the only place we hadn't searched was……..Wayne Manor" He said as realization started to dawn on him. He then ran to the other side of his desk and grabbed the files he had on Nicole and Mara from a drawer. He searched through Nicole's and stopped at a page. "Of course! How could I have been so naïve? One of those runt's father works at Wayne Industries, owned by ole Brucey. That mansion also had very high tech security systems."

The Joker then smiled and huge, insane grin. "They're there; at Wayne Manor. I'm sure of it."

The henchmen looked at each other. "Then do you want us to go snatch the girls now, boss?" the one called Curly asked.

The Joker thought about going with that, but he wanted to mess with the girls first. "No Cur." The Joker turned around and faced his henchmen. "What fun would that be if we just went in and grabbed them?"

Cur swallowed nervously while the other two tensed. You never know how things went with the Joker when it came to his temper and all. "No. I have a much, better, _funner _idea."

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_What does the Joker have planned for Nicole and Mara? Will Batman be able to save them from him, or will the Joker's plot go through, whatever it may be. _

_Tune in next time. Same bat-time, same bat-channel!_

_*Sighs* yeah I know, that was totally lame_

_Please R&R_


	14. Chapter 14

_Hey peeps sorry i haven't updated in awhile i have been preoccupied and had writers block. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as i liked writing it. Happy reading!_

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**Chapter 14**

The next day, Mara and Nicole woke up around 11. Last night after dinner, Bruce and the girls watched a Gray Ghost movie. He said it was his childhood hero, and even though it was an older movie, it was not that bad. After that they just kind of talked about stuff; nothing Joker related, just stuff about the girls' families. Although Nicole didn't have to explain a lot since her dad works for the guy. At about 10 o'clock Bruce had to go on patrol, so even though they were tucked in (which was getting kind of embarrassing for them) at quarter to 10, they stayed up until about 3 in the morning. Hey, they were teenagers. Now tired teenagers of course.

When they got downstairs, Alfred said he had to go to Wayne Industries for an important meeting and would be back shortly. They had awesome omelets and went in the living room, where there was a computer in it.

"What….how…?" Mara babbled. You couldn't blame her; this computer was newer and had a lot of cool features. It was heaven for a computer geek, or in this case, Mara.

"Master Bruce ordered it this morning." Alfred said as he walked in the room. "He said you mentioned it to him."

Nicole nodded while Mara just grinned towards the computer. Alfred saw the need of the girl's face and smiled. "Well I will leave you two to the computer. Call me if you need anything, young misses."

"We will." Nicole answered, and with that the butler left the room.

Mare instantly ran to the computer and sat down in the chair, Nicole grabbing a chair from a table and pulling it next to her friend. To them, it was play time.

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A couple hours later the girls were still on the computer. Shocker I know. They went on a lot of fun sites and played computer games and watched videos and were content with the newly acquired computer. As soon as they stopped watching a hilarious video that included a chicken and a paddle ball, Alfred came in the room.

"Ms. Travis, there is a man on the phone who says he is your father, do you want to answer?"

Nicole's face was a mix of confusion, shock, and happiness. She hadn't seen her father in what seemed like ages and wanted to talk to him badly. Even if it was against the rules.

"Yeah!" Nicole smiled happily. Alfred said the phone was right down the hall so she ran down towards the phone, Mara following. Alfred went back to the kitchen doing whatever he was doing in there before.

Nicole saw the phone and picked it up. "Dad? As much I appreciate you calling me, you know you are not supposed to call me."

"Oh, but I couldn't resist, kiddo."

Nicole almost dropped the phone. She felt a cold prickling down her spine. That voice…..it wasn't her father's. In fact, the humorous tone to it made it clear who it was. The Joker.

Mara saw her friend's expression. "Nicole, what's wrong?"

"It's……"

"Nicole?"

"You know it took me awhile to find you two, but now I did and I can't wait to see you both again."

"Nicole who is it?"

"It's _him _Mara." Mara knew exactly who she was talking about now, so her face mirrored Nicole's. She leaned forward toward the phone to listen to what he was saying.

"How did you know where we were?" Nicole asked in a soft voice.

"I have my resources. Now are you two gonna be good little girls and come to me, or do we have to do things the hard way?"

Mara yelled in the receiver. "We will never go with you! You have to be crazy to think we would!"

They heard the Joker laugh mockingly over the phone. "Well I am, but that is beside the point. You should do things the easy way and give yourselves up."

"What happens if we don't?" Nicole asked in a harsh tone.

The Joker giggled over the phone. "I was hoping you would ask that. See I have something important to you. Or should I say some people?"

"What are you talking about?" Mara asked. The girls were now sharing the receiver so they can both hear.

What the girls then heard made them gasp in fear and shock. "Nicole? Nicole!" "Mara where are you?" It was their parents, yelling out for them. That mad man had their parents!

"No! What are you doing to them?" Nicole demanded over the phone.

"I haven't done anything with them…yet. Unless you hand yourselves into me, your parents will go with a smile….understand?"

Both of the teens were speechless. They didn't want to turn themselves in to that psychopath's clutches, but he had their parents, and they couldn't let him hurt them….no matter what. Nicole looked at Mara and Mara nodded, agreeing with what they had to do.

Nicole spoke into the receiver. "Okay. You win, we'll turn ourselves in, just don't hurt them."

The Joker chuckled darkly. "Oh I knew you two would make the right choice! At 11:00 tonight, go to the abandoned warehouse by the docks. Understand?"

Nicole answered yes. "And remember; don't tell your hero Batsy, because if my boys see him at all, your parents are history. Capishe?"

"Yeah." The 14 year old agreed desolately.

"Good. See ya soon kiddos." With that the Joker hung up, leaving the teen still holding the receiver, slowly hanging it up.

" Should we tell Bruce? I mean he would know what to do." Mara asked.

"No. You heard what he said. If he sees Batman, he will kill our folks."

"But..."

"We can't risk it Mara, you know that. As much as I don't want to, we have to turn ourselves in to him…for them."

Mara sighed deeply. "You're right."

Just then Bruce walked in the room. "Hey girls, what's up?"

"Oh not much. Just being, well, teenagers." Nicole smiled even though she felt like she was going to break down, Mara the same.

Bruce smiled. "Well that's good. Alfred said dinner is ready. We are having pasta."

"Oh...yum." Mara said with half hearted excitement.

Bruce eyed them suspiciously. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah! Yeah everything is fine, really." Nicole assured the billionaire/vigilante.

Bruce looked unsure, but let it go. "Well, alright. Let's go eat." Bruce said while heading out of the room.

"Okay." Both the girls said while walking to the dining room, trying to look as if nothing is wrong, even though something definitely was.

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A couple hours later, after Bruce put them to bed, Nicole and Mara got dressed. Nicole wore a dark blue hoodie, a gray shirt, blue jeans and converse shoes. Mara wore a black hoodie with a red shirt and dark grey pants with black sneakers. They opened the window in Nicole's room and climbed down the tree that was next to it. It took them awhile to get down because, let's face it, they were not squirrels.

As soon as they got down they ran from Wayne Manor to the nearest part of Gotham City, (Okay they didn't run _all _the way, because if they did they would be on the ground dead from heart attack. They were definitely not athletes.) As soon as they got to a city block, they called for a cab and gave the gab driver 18 bucks to drive to the docks. He was confused to think of why two young girls wanted to go to the docks, but didn't question it. It wasn't long before the taxi got to the docks. The girls paid the driver and walked toward an empty building.

"This must be the place." Mara said as the stopped in front of the building.

"Must be." Nicole pulled out her cell phone. It read 11:00. _Just our luck to arrive on the dot,_ Nicole thought.

"Well," Nicole sighed. "Let's go."

Mara looked down at the ground. "This is scary dude."

"I know, man. But we are doing it for our parents, so let's just go in and and get through whatever he has planned for us."

"Okay."

Slowly, the girls approached the entrance of the old warehouse. Nicole opened the door and they went in. It was very dark inside so they could barely make out the things around them. Just old machine parts and boxes. They then heard a noise coming from what seemed like the other side of the big factory room.

"Nicole? Nicole?" "Mara where are you?"

"It's them!" Mara shouted. They then started sprinting toward where they heard the noise. They followed the voices of their parents until they turned a corner to be confronted with a TV on wheels. Confused, the teens walked toward it and turned it around, since it was facing backwards. The television seemed to be showing a big concert last year at the girl's school, in which they had to do against their will. They remembered hiding from total humiliation and the girl's mothers were worried sick because they couldn't find them. The TV showed it all, the mothers calling them with Nicole's dad recording and when they finally found the girls. But since this was an old video and not their parents, where were their folks?

"Quite the shy ones weren't you girls?" a voice rang from the shadows, giggles following after. The Joker emerged from the dark and put his elbow on the TV and leant on it. "I mean you almost gave your mothers a heart attack!"

"W-where are our parents?" Nicole stuttered.

"Yeah where are you keeping them?"

The Joker chuckled. "See about that…I lied! I never had your stupid parents; I just grabbed an old video from your house and played it for you two on the phone."

"But….why…?" Mara tried to get out, still paralyzed from shock.

"It's not like a guy like me is supposed to tell the truth or anything. That would ruin my image, heh heh."

"We came here for nothing you mean?" Nicole shouted. This was not good at all.

"Oh I wouldn't say nothing……CATCH!" The Joker through purple pellets at the girls, spraying green gas all around them. The girls started to cough, and then they felt light headed. It didn't take along before they fell to the ground. The last thing they heard was the Joker's mad cackling, triumphant of his two captured prisoners.

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_Please R&R If you would all be so kind, Luna here will appreciate it XD_


	15. Chapter 15

_Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in awhile, writer's block sucks :P so don't be surprised if it takes awhile to update between chapters. I also want to thank all the people who have been reading and reviewing my story, you guys are awesome! Anyway, on with the show :D_

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**Chapter 15**

Batman had just gotten back to the cave after his patrol. He had stopped some muggers and jewelry heists, but not much. He still hadn't got anything on the Joker. He must be going without contacts this time, although it isn't that much of a surprise because this isn't any ordinary scheme of his. But nonetheless, he had to find that psychopath; soon.

As soon as he got into his Bruce Wayne attire, he went upstairs to the mansion and up the stairs to check on the girls. He has been doing this every night to make sure they were safe, and it was nice to see the teenagers so serene during the condition of them being there in the first place. He opened Nicole's door, since it was the first room and peered inside. He saw a figure in the bed, but it didn't appear to be breathing. Curious, the billionaire went up to the bed and slightly pulled back the covers that were disguising the figure. He gasped when he saw that a bunch of pillows were on the bed instead of Nicole. In a panic, Bruce ran to Mara's room and pulled back the covers, only to see the same as Nicole's. The girls were gone.

Bruce looked all over each of the girl's rooms but he couldn't find any trace of them. He ran down the stairs in a hurry, meeting up with a worried Alfred.

"Master Bruce, what is wrong?"

"The girls….they're gone."

"Gone sir? Are you sure?" The concerned butler asked.

"Yes, I looked all over and they don't seem to be anywhere."

"I haven't seen them since they retired for the night, Master Bruce."

Brue paced across the hallway. He did not expect this sort of thing to happen. The girls had been acting sort of funny during dinner, but he figured it was normal considering all that was happening. He stopped pacing and turned to his butler.

"Where could they possibly be?"

….

Nicole moaned as she started wake up. That gas that made her and Mara unconscious gives you a bad headache when you wake up.

"Ughhh…..wha?" Nicole was more aware and noticed she was tied to a wooden chair in a very dark room. She struggled against the bonds, but the ropes were tied too tight.

"Shit." She looked around her surroundings, but she couldn't see anything, since it was dark. It felt like she was in a horror movie or something, like so many movies her and Mara watch. Wait, where was Mara?

"Mara?" Nicole called out quietly. No answer. This time Nicole tried a little more loudly. "Mara?" Still no answer. Right as she was going to call again, she heard a groan, which sounded all too familiar.

"Mara? Is that you?"

"Yeah. Ughh my head hurts." Mara sounded not too far, which showed how dark it really was in there

"Thank God, I thought I was alone in here. Are you okay?" Nicole sighed.

"I just said my head hurts, damn."

"Oh yeah. Are you tied to a chair too?"

"Yeah." Mara answered.

Suddenly they heard a door open and close, footsteps coming closer to the teenagers. A bright light shone on, showing both girls in a spotlight in the apparent center of the shadowy room. The footsteps circled around them, making both Nicole and Mara tense. Finally the footsteps stopped right in front of them. The girls' hearts raced as the figure in the darkness chuckled familiarly. The Joker stepped into the light in front of them.

"Well well, the kiddies are finally awake! Now we can all have some fun."

"Sorry, we aren't interested in your kind of fun, Bozo." Nicole glared at the Clown Prince of Crime, but he kept his genuine smile on.

"Oh but I insist. We have so much to catch up on, being apart for so long, and the last time we saw each other, that rude bat interrupted us."

"Yeah, well we have nothing to say to you, freako." Mara said.

"Sticks and stones, girly. Sticks and stones. We must get along, children, since you two are going to be here for quite some time. We are going to have such a wonderful time together! We can all play truth or dare, board games, or my personal favorites, drive the kids insane mind games." The Joker laughed.

"Go to hell!" Nicole exclaimed. The Joker frowned and clamped his hand to her mouth."Now, now, young lady. That is not polite language to an adult. Didn't your parents teach you any manners? Oh well, because I will be teaching both of you manners you both will not soon forget!" He took his hand away from Nicole's mouth and backed away a bit.

"It will be so enjoyable to educate you two after that fiasco three months ago. So enjoyable indeed." The Joker then started to cackle maniacally and walk back into the shadows, the girls hearing the door open and slam shut, his laughter fading away.

The girls still struggled against the ropes that tied their arms, legs, and chest to their chairs, but no such luck. They knew the Joker wouldn't be gone for long, and they had to figure a way out. Fast.

….

_Yeah I know it is a short chapter, but I just started writing it today off the top of my head so sue me XP also don't want to give too much away right now too. Please click at the button below and review this chapter please. Thanx :D_


	16. Chapter 16

_Hello again, my faithful readers! I am hoping this is earlier to update then it has been for awhile –does happy dance- and again I want to thank everyone that has been reading my story and giving wonderful reviews. You know the drill, please read and review por favor! What are you waiting for, go on and read already :D_

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**Chapter 16**

"I don't understand." Bruce said while putting his hand through his black hair. "They seemed happy here, and I never thought they would run away out of the blue." It had been a little over a half hour since he noticed the girls were missing, and he was still in shock. There was no note or anything to say where they went, and this was all, whether he was going to admit it or not, scaring him.

"Perhaps they just went out for awhile, Master Bruce, to get some fresh air; after all, they have been cooped up inside the manor for days. And don't forget, they are teenagers, and teenagers always have a tendency to sneak out every once in awhile."

Bruce paced his Batman pace. "That would make sense, Alfred, but they know how dangerous that is, and besides, don't you remember how weird they have been acting tonight? There has to be something bigger going on."

"Yes, I do remember how odd the young ladies were acting. They have been acting like that ever since Miss Nicole's father called."

This made the Dark Knight stop his pacing and looked at his butler. "Who called?"

Alfred replied, "Her father, sir. He called a few moments before you came home. He sounded a bit odd, and I know that it is not permitted to let the parents speak to the girls, but I could tell they missed them awfully sir."

Bruce knew the teens missed their parents, kind of like he missed his. But at least their parents were still alive, even though they couldn't see each other because of a homicidal maniac. But anyway, he knew it could not be possible for Nicole's father to call.

"That is impossible, Alfred. I had Norman do some important things by time I left, so he couldn't have called, and he knows very well not to call." Then realization hit him hard in the face. "Alfred. What exactly did he sound like?"

"He had a somewhat higher voice, but you could very well tell some laughter behind….." The truth hit him as well. "Oh dear!"

He knew then as well as Bruce that that man on the phone was not Nicole's father. It was the Joker.

Bruce's eyes were filled with worry and shock. "The Joker has them, Alfred. He has Nicole and Mara."

….

Mara and Nicole were in the dark room, tied up and alone, for about an hour. And they were dead tired from struggling hopelessly at the rope. Why is it always hard to get free from simple rope?

"This is hopeless!" Mara exclaimed. "We are never going to get out of here alive! He is going to keep us here and torture us with God knows what until we are as insane as him!"

"Mara, we can't lose hope. Bru...Batman will find us." Nicole said while saying Batman instead of Bruce. She didn't know if the Joker was watching them or not, but she didn't want to take any chances. "We can't let this maniac get the better of us, we have to show that clown freak we aren't afraid of him!" _Even though we are, _Nicole mentally sighed.

"Yeah but how is Batman going to find us? It's not like he knew about this place before, why would he just suddenly know now?"

"I-I don't know, but he will come. We just have to get through whatever the Joker is going to do to us."

Mara sighed, but nodded. She knew Nicole was right, and they had to have a clear head to get through this. They heard a door open and close, and the Joker appeared in front of them, with a tray of weird objects on them. He smiled his trademark smile at the 14 year olds. He pulled a chair from the darkness and turned it so he sat on a backwards chair.

"And how are my favorite little teenagers doing?" The Clown Prince of Crime asked in a sickly sweet tone.

"Just great. Untie us and we'll show you how great we feel." Nicole deadpanned with a glare.

The Joker giggled. "Oh I see we haven't lost our sense of humor! That is good; you two would be so boring without it."

He picked up what seemed to be a joy buzzer and placed it on his middle finger. "Now then," the clown grinned. "Who wants to play a game?"

"Yeah right, like we are going to play _your _games." Mara scoffed.

"Oh but they are to _die _for. Heh heh. They will be so much fun, you'll see." The Joker placed the joy buzzer near Nicole's leg. "Hey what are you….?" Nicole didn't get to finish her sentence.

"Okay kiddies, here is the game. You are going to answer some questions." He talked towards Mara. "And if you get them wrong, Nicky girl gets a little jolt." He smiled towards a frightful eyed Nicole. "Now. Let's begin."

He rolled his eyes as if to think of a question. "Alright first question is…..when was the Declaration of Independence signed?" Both girls thought that was an odd question coming from him, but they were too scared to say anything.

"Ummm…..July 4th, 1776." Mara answered. "Correct!" The Joker exclaimed, and then pressed the joy buzzer against Nicole's leg. The pain shot up through her body, making her jump but not falling off the chair because of her bondages. She barely kept her screams from erupting from her. Finally, as quick as the shock began, it stopped, making Nicole almost fall on the ground if it wasn't for being tied to the chair and the Joker making sure she didn't fall.

Mara's mouth was agape. "B-but I got the question right! You weren't supposed to shock her, you said…."

"It is my game, little lady, so I do as I please." The Joker grinned maniacally at her. "Now next question…."

"No! I am not playing anymore! No matter what, you are going to electrocute her. I am not going to play your sick game and have my best friend get killed!"

"Oh, but you shall play, because if you don't I will just kill her right now in front of you. Would you rather have her die, or keep her alive while you play my game." Mara looked at Nicole, who was looking at her while trying to catch her breath from the last jolt. Mara looked at the Joker and even though she didn't want this, it was the only way to keep Nicole alive. "Okay, you win." Mara whispered. "I'll play your game."

The Joker chuckled madly, while Nicole's heartbeat rose. She knew Mara was doing this to save her, and she knew this would be tough on her, but she was still scared. She braced herself for jolts that will surely come.

"Okey dokey then!" The Joker exclaimed. "Next question is….."

….

Batman sat in his cave analyzing any place that could be hiding the Joker and the girls. He had been working two hours straight with no clue on where they were. Bruce had to find them, he had to. He cared for those girls, almost like daughters. _If something happens to them, I will never forgive myself_, Bruce thought to himself.

Alfred came down the stairs with a cup of coffee and a sympathetic look in his eyes. "Any luck, sir?" he asked while setting the cup next to the Dark Knight. Bruce shook his head. "Nothing, Alfred. There is no where that fits Joker's profile and closed for criminals like him to use that I haven't already looked." He put his head in his hands. "What if I don't find them in time, Alfred? What if the Joker wins this time?"

"Nonsense! Master Bruce, you are the Batman, and good always triumphs over evil."

"But…"

"No buts about it, sir. These girls are counting on you, and I know you can do it, Master Bruce. The Batman can do anything." The faithful butler smiled at his master.

Bruce smiled. Alfred always knew how to cheer him up, ever since he was little to know. He put his determined Batman face on and stood up from his chair. "I will find them, Alfred. I won't let them down."

Alfred smiled as he saw Bruce researching all possible places for the mad clown's hide out. "I know you won't."

….

The Joker was having so much fun. It has been around an hour or so since they have started playing his little game, and the poor girls looked exhausted. Mara was looking away and stared at the floor, not wanting to look at the Mogul of Mountebanks or Nicole, who was leaning forwards against her bondages. She was so physically strained from the electrocutions, everything hurt and her muscles were tired from pulling against the ropes while she was screaming in agony.

The Joker enjoyed their pain. He had waited three months for this pleasure; to him three months was a very long time, and he relished every scream he got out of them. Mara was in mental anguish of her friend's pain and Nicole was feeling like she was hit by a truck made of lighting.

"Well…." The Joker started. "I think Nicky girl had had enough punishment for now. Now it her turn to answer some questions." The Joker laughed, and turned a small little dial on his giant joy buzzer, and placed it near Mara's arm. While she was panicking, Nicole had to force her head up just to look at the madman.

"And you know what happens if you don't play along." The Joker said in a sweet yet menacing tone.

Nicole glared at him, but she said nothing; she simply had no energy, and she couldn't risk Mara's life for back talking this crazy son of a bitch. She had to play along.

"Ready? Okay…..oh right I forgot, since I added a few notches to the power of my handy dandy zapper, you get the question wrong and Mara gets a very painful shock, since it is way more powerful then it was before. Hee hee, that is why you get only one question to answer. Can't have you two dropping dead before we have more fun."

"You son of a ….." Nicole snarled.

"Ah ah ah! No foul language here, missy. Unless you want your friend to have a little more pain."

Nicole gave the smiling clown a hateful look but sighed. She had to do what he said. "What's the question?" She said softly, partly because she hated to ask and she had barley had any energy.

"Glad to see you are willing to play along. Now your question of truth is….." The Joker prolonged it for dramatic effect. "What is Batman's secret identity?"

This made both girls' eyes pop out. They did not expect that _at all_. Did the Joker really think they knew, even though they did, or was it just a question he figured they would get completely wrong. Either way, it caught them off guard, and Nicole was speechless.

"W-what?" She stuttered out.

"The identity of Batman. What is it? You only have 15 seconds to answer, that is the consequence of having one question." The Joker grinned psychopathically.

Should she answer and possibly save Mara from being horribly electrocuted but giving away Bruce's identity, or should she not and save Bruce but not Mara. It was too tough a question, she couldn't decide.

"10 seconds." The Joker grinned.

Nicole started to panic. "Uh...ummm..."

"7 seconds."

The 14 year old looked at her friend, who had fear in her eyes. Even though Mara was terrified, she knew Batman's secret was too important to tell, and she and Nicole didn't want to give this monster the pleasure of it. She gave Nicole a look in her eye that told Nicole what to do, no matter how much Nicole felt like she might regret it.

"3, 2, 1! What is your final answer?" The Joker asked like a game show host.

"I…..I don't know. I don't know who Batman is." Nicole said quietly.

The Joker gave a time buzzer sound. "Oh sorry, that is not the correct answer we were looking for. Too bad, I was kinda looking forward to that answer. Oh well."

The Joker placed the joy buzzer on Mara's arm, Nicole looking away, and gut wrenching screams could be heard all over the abandoned factory, along with maniacal laughter.

….

_Cliffhanger! I am so evil :3 but don't worry, I will update as soon as I can so you can see what happens next. I am already planning the next chapter anyway. Until then, TTFN! 8D_


	17. Chapter 17

_Sorry I haven't updated in awhile folks! Summer vacation and all that. But anyway I will just get to the point and you all know what to do, read and review. HEY I RHYMED :D lol okay on with the show now_

…_._

**Chapter 17**

Nicole looked at Mara with horror filled eyes. Her body was leant forward on her chair, and you could smell the burns from her electrified body. She was still alive, but that shock wasn't exactly good for her. The Joker was still giggling madly at the unconscious girl and her agape friend. "Well," he said while his giggles started to slow down. "That was very _shocking_ wasn't it?" The Clown Prince of Crime then started to cackle at his pun. Nicole felt her face get hot.

"HOW DARE YOU? HOW COULD YOU DO THAT? SHE COULD HAVE DIED! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE I WILL…." Nicole savagely struggled against her bonds not even finishing her own sentence. She wanted to get free just to strangle the mad clown for nearly killing her best friend. The Joker chuckled darkly at her efforts.

"My, aren't we in a mood. Struggle all you want, kiddo, you aren't going anywhere anytime soon."

Nicole struggled against her bonds until she ran out of energy; she was still weak from her shocks so she didn't struggle that long. She glared at the Joker with fury.

"Batman will stop you, just as he always has. He will bring your sorry, demented ass back to Arkham. You never win, don't you see that? What makes this time any different than any of your other lame, destined to fail schemes?" Nicole spat.

The Joker slapped her across the face and held her chin to force the teen to look up at him, leaning down to her with an insane smile and look in his eyes. "Because this isn't some little heist or scheme. This is for the sanity of two little brats and even the sanity of Batman. And I WILL win this, I assure you. Now I would suggest you pipe down and be a good little girl, or I will finish off your friend. GOT IT?"

Nicole looked away from him, not wanting this mad man to hurt her friend anymore. The Joker smiled sickly sweet. "Good girl." He patted her head much to Nicole's dismay. "Now I will be back in a bit, so don't go anywhere." The Joker laughed and walked out of the room, slamming the door as he left. Nicole looked at Mara; she was still unconscious, but breathing.

"Mara?" Nicole whispered over to her friend, seeing if she could respond. "Mara?"

Nicole could see Mara's body moving a bit, and Nicole tried again. "Mara, are you okay?" She knew this was a dumb question since she was electrified with around 7 or so thousand volts.

"N-no. Dude…..my whole body hurts…it hurts to move."

"I know. It will be okay, we'll get out of here, don't worry."

Mara was breathing heavily as she struggled to stay conscious. The zap she got from the Joker did a number on her you could say. It was a miracle she was even alive. "What if we don't?"

This made Nicole's heart skip. "Of course we are, Bruce will save us; he always saves the day."

"But what if Joker actually wins this time? What if we don't get out of this alive?"

Mara then fell back into unconsciousness, the pain consuming her. Nicole was left alone to ponder Mara's questions. What if Bruce didn't save them this time, what if she and Mara were doomed to be in the mad clowns clutches until they are driven to insanity…..or worse?

Nicole looked down to the floor with misty eyes. She hadn't cried in years, considering she was usually pretty happy and didn't show those kind of emotions usually. But this was different, she was near her breaking point, and she barely felt hope at all.

"Bruce where are you?"

….

Bruce had taken the day off from Wayne Industries for "personal business" to everyone else. But to him, it was so he can have more time finding the girls. It was around 5pm the next day, and even though he had been answering some calls for business he was in the Batcave, searching as diligently as ever for the teenagers. But it was hard to Bruce when he had to lie to Mr. Travis about Nicole and Mara.

"How are they?" he had asked him earlier in the day. "Are the behaving okay?"

"Yes they are just fine." After that the disguised Dark Knight went back to his work and said he was busy. He didn't want to tell Mr. Travis that the 14 year olds had been taken by the Joker, just so he wouldn't worry himself to death. Like Bruce was.

He searched in the cave for all possible hideouts, but all inconclusive. He sat in his chair and put his chin in his hand, trying to locate the exact spot of the hideout and the girls were. He had been doing this a lot since they disappeared and he was getting sick of it. Sick of wondering if they were okay. He needed to KNOW they were safe, he had to get them away from that monster before he hurt them….or killed them.

Alfred brought tea down. "Tea, sir?"

"No thanks, Alfred. I need to concentrate on this."

The butler sighed. "No luck, I take it?"

The Caped Crusader sighed deeply. "No. There are too many places where they could be. None of them are the Joker's usual places. Warehouses might be the next place, but most of them are owned or rented by people.

"Perhaps maybe he rented one of them to confuse you sir, so you couldn't find them?"

That made Batman's senses ring loudly. "Of course! Why didn't I see it before?" Batman typed in the computer's data bases.

"See what before?" Alfred inquired.

"The Joker doesn't want to be caught this time, so to make sure I don't find him, he probably rented one of these warehouses for his use." He continued typing on the computer. "These warehouses were rented between the time the Joker escaped and when the girls disappeared." 9 ware house names appeared on the screen, warehouses for auto parts, old trading companies and things like that.

"Now 5 of these warehouses renters and owners are legit, well known people, so doubtfully he is any of those. So the Joker and the girls must be in one of these warehouse."These places were owned by some names he hadn't heard of before. They were names that probably hadn't existed until the person had rented the place.

"Great scot. Well perhaps this narrows down your search smaller sir." Alfred said.

"It narrows it down, but not good enough. The Joker might've rented all four of these ware houses, maybe none of them and is hiding the girls somewhere else. I need more to go on than this." He put his face in his hands. He hadn't gotten much sleep, and he was frustrated with himself that he had not a lot of clues to go on.

Alfred put his hand on Batman's shoulder. "I am positive you will find Ms. Nicole and Ms. Mara, sir. You are the world's greatest detective after all." He gave him a reassuring smile. It helped Bruce a bit, but it still didn't give him the facts he needed to find the teenagers. And he needed them; fast.

….

It had been a couple hours since the Joker left. Or maybe many hours, or even a day. Nicole didn't really have a good comprehension on time for the moment, but she knew she was hurting, and she had been there, tied to a wooden chair (which made a person sore after awhile by the way) for a long time. He probably left them there for so long just to mess with their heads, and no doubt he was going to come back. The question was when and what was he going to do when he does come back?

Mara hadn't woken up since the Joker left, but Nicole knew she was still alive since she could both hear and see her breathing. She needed medical attention, that was for sure, and probably Nicole too. They needed to figure out how to escape first or at least contact Bruce. She was groggy and tired, and her muscles ached from her shocks, but without a doubt Mara was worse off than her.

Nicole looked around the floor, looking for anything to cut her ropes. She searched until she saw a piece of sharp metal, a few feet away from her. What luck!

Nicole grinned, and looked at Mara then at the door, to see if the Joker might come in. She didn't hear any footsteps, so she decided now was a good time as ever to try and get that piece of metal. She rocked her chair with her body, no matter how much her muscles screamed in agony, until her chair finally fell to the side. It hurt when she landed but the teen didn't care. It took awhile for her to maneuver her way so her tied up hand could reach the piece of metal, but before long she got a hold of it and started cutting her way through the rope that held that hand. In a short time, the rope was cut, and she worked her free hand to cut her other hand, then the one against her chest, then her right leg then left leg, until she was free of all the ropes.

She inwardly screamed in joy that she freed herself and went over to Mara's chair. Right as she was about to start cutting, she realized that she was too hurt to drag along and she doubted she would wake up soon. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't escape with Mara being in the shape she was in. She had to leave her there, just until she could contact Bruce. Then she remembered something. Her cell phone! She had brought with her and forgot about it. She pulled it from her pocket, and was about to call, but decided she should do it in a more secluded spot so no one will hear her in case someone was watching. She limped to the door (she was limping because the Joker joy buzzed her on her leg which hurt her A LOT) and slowly opened it. She looked both ways and started down a hallway.

She finally found a spot secluded enough from distant voices she heard so she could make her saving call. She slid down on the floor and dialed Wayne Manor's number.

…...

Bruce paced across the Batcave floor for awhile, trying to piece together the clues he had to pinpoint the location of the jackanapes' location. He had pretty good clues, but he needed more. He would not fail the girls, he absolutely refused to.

A phone call came through the Batcave, which was connected to the Wayne Manor phone in case someone needed to contact Bruce Wayne while he was in the cave. He wasn't going to answer it but if people didn't hear from him they might get suspicious. He clicked a button on the Batcomputer. "Bruce Wayne here."

"Bruce?" Bruce's eyes widened. He knew that voice.

"Nicole, is that you?" Bruce asked with disbelief.

"Oh thank God you answered. I was afraid you wouldn't pick up and we might've…." He could hear tears welling up from the sound of her voice.

"Nicole, where are you? Are you and Mara alright?"

"The Joker tied us to chairs and shocked us with some sort of joy buzzer. I am okay, in pain a bit, bit better than Mara, she hasn't wakened up yet! I managed to escape and I'm hiding but I had to leave her tied up because she couldn't move."

"Where are you?" he said in his Batman voice, anger fueling it. How dare that psychopath _electrocute _them, and possibly seriously injuring Mara!

"We are at this abandoned ware house by the docks, some sort of old fish processing plant or something."

Batman looked at his list of ware house names, and one fish processing plant was on them. It was by the docks and rented out the day after the Joker escaped by a Joseph Kerr. It had to be the place!

"I'm on my way, Nicole. Don't move from your hiding spot."

"Okay just hur…." The phone died.

"Nicole? NICOLE!" Batman knew he had no more time to lose. He headed towards his Batboat to get to the docks.

….

_And my evilness strikes again XD don't worry, I am already working on the next chapter so hopefully you guys won't have to wait as long for the next update. See ya soon!_

_~Luna_


	18. Chapter 18

_Hola readers! Nearing the conclusion of Home Alone, but not that close yet. You know the drill; please R&R after u read this chapter. And I don't own anyone other than Nicole and Mara, they is mine :3 so any who, ON WITH THE SHOW!_

…_._

**Chapter 18**

"I'm on my way, Nicole. Don't move from your hiding spot." It felt so good to know that Bruce was coming to save her and Mara. Nicole felt her hopes getting higher, that she will get out of this alive, and boy would it be great to see Batman kicking that psycho's ass. She was still afraid because the Joker could show up any minute, and she needed him to come soon.

"Okay, just hurr.." She didn't get to finish her sentence. "Hello? Hello?" Nicole whispered urgently into her cell. She examined it to see her cell's battery had died. _Damn it, I knew I should have charged it! _Nicole mentally yelled. But at least she contacted Bruce and he was on his way. She might as well do what he told her to do. She sat huddled in the corner of her hiding spot, making sure to listen for anyone who came through. Whether it was the Joker, his thugs, or hopefully, Batman.

….

Batman sped through the water on his Batboat, on his way to the abandoned fish processing warehouse at the docks. On his way to stop the madman the Joker and the 14 year old girls he kidnapped. He had is white slits for eyes in a stern mood as he paid attention to the route he was taking.

_I will not fail these girls. The Joker will NOT win this and hut them anymore than he already has._ The Dark Knight said in his mind. He still remembered his nightmare a couple nights ago, on what that clown did to the girls.

"_The last laugh is mine…"_

" _You failed them, even when you said you would protect them….."_

"_You should've saved us Bruce. You failed us."_

Batman shook his head to clear those thoughts away. He couldn't let them distract him. After all it was only a nightmare. But what if it became real…

_NO! It won't happen, I won't let it. _Bruce reassured himself. But Nicole's phone message suddenly dying out when she contacted him didn't exactly look like a good sign. He knew he had to hurry, and it was only a matter of minutes before he reached his destination. He parked the Batboat under the docks and walked to the warehouse. _I'm here Joke, and ready or not, I am taking those girls back and putting you away forever._

….

The Joker was watching the news channel for pure entertainment. He watched it if there were any disasters or accidents that he could get a good laugh at, or watched for any news on him and his exploits. This time he watched to see if ole Brucey boy reported the girls missing yet. So far, there hasn't been anything about that. Even though it would be better for this to be a hush hush thing, he sort of wanted it to get out so he could laugh at his achievement and everyone being worried sick. He was hoping he would see one of their mothers crying, begging him not to hurt them. But nothing about that was on.

"Hmm either Wayne doesn't want bad publicity or he is too busy with his playboy business to even realize they're gone. Ha!" The Joker laughed. Everything was going how he wanted. He had the girls in his clutches, they were starting to lose hope, and Batman hadn't even arrived yet. This was too good to be true! And speaking of the girls…..

"Well I think I have deprived my presence from my guests long enough." The Joker stood up from his seat and giggled. "They should be conscious by now I would think. Time to play another game!" The Joker set off towards the girl's holding chamber ready to torture them again when one of his henchmen went up to him. "Uhh boss?"

The Joker looked at him with an annoyed expression. "What is it now? Well spit it out, I don't have all day!"

The henchman fidgeted. He knew his boss wouldn't take the news very well. "Uh boss….it's Batman."

…...

_So what do u think? I know it is short but I want to try and make as many chapters as possible. Please review if u would!_

_~Luna_


	19. Chapter 19

_Hey guys, chapter 19 is here ^^ Instead of goofing off like I usually do, I will just say what I need to say and that'll be it :3 _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or any other Batman related character, the rest is mine –and my editor's. HAPPY ANNOYEDVALERIA?- XD Anyway, ON WITH THE SHOW :D_

…_..._

**Chapter 19**

Batman entered the warehouse through one of the windows at the top of the building. He used rope he kept in his belt and slid down quietly to the ground. He used the dark room to his advantage as he pulled his cape around him to make his already ominous appearance even more frightening. He inspected the huge room for anything inconspicuous. For all he knew, the Joker could have been expecting him and laid a trap. After all, with the Joker expect the unexpected.

He crept through the room and into the hallways, trying not to make any sounds. He heard voices in the hallways, most likely the Joker's thugs. He didn't want to attract their attention yet. He was definitely going to take them down later, that was a fact. But he had to get the girls out of here before he fought them, or the Joker.

His shadowy form slithered into the hallways, searching for the teenagers, peering inside every room he came upon to see any sign of the 14 year olds. Nothing so far.

_Where could they be? _Bruce asked mentally.

He continued his search as he passed into another hallway. He walked in the shadows of the warehouse, completely unaware of the hidden camera alerting the henchmen of his presence.

….

"Uhhh boss….it's Batman."

The Joker could not believe what this pathetic excuse for a henchman had said. "It's Batman." The very sound of those words put the Clown Prince of Crime into a heated anger. "WHAAT?" he roared.

The henchman had to use every bit of courage he had to stop from collapsing from the anger of his boss. "Our cameras caught him walking in the building, boss. The other guys are looking for him right now, sir."

How could he have found them? He used a hide out that wasn't even his style, he had rented the place with a fake name, he hadn't left any evidence that he could think of that would come back to here; he had destroyed the phone he used to call the girls and threw it in the nearest garbage bin in the city. He figured he shouldn't even be surprised. Batman always spoiled his fun, ALWAYS. But that didn't make him any less furious.

"Well what are you doing here still? GO FIND HIM!" The henchman scurried off with fear as went to do what his boss had ordered. The Joker was left steaming in the room. The Batman trying to stop him this time. Well he wasn't going to let him stop him without a fight. Then he realized something. The girls. He was here to rescue the girls; he was probably on his way to their holding spot right now! He couldn't let his victims be saved that easily. The Joker then set off down the halls to get the teens, so that he would still be able to torture their spirit and escape from the Dark Knight.

….

Nicole was huddled in her corner, hiding from the Joker and his thugs in case they came by. At first, all was basically quiet, besides thugs chattering every now and then. But after awhile, she started to hear some commotion from the thugs, saying words like "What the…." And "It's the Bat!"

Nicole couldn't help the grin that came on when she heard that. _He's here! He's here and we're getting out of here!_ Nicole exclaimed joyously in her thoughts. She heard running footsteps and not that much later, yelling. It was definitely the Joker, and she could make out some of the things he was yelling. _I guess he isn't happy about Bruce being here then, heh he, _Nicole chuckled silently, then heard hurried footsteps down the hall and voices.

"We gotta find the Bat quick guys. The boss ain't so happy right now that he knows he is here."

_And I don't think me not being in that room will make him any happier._ Nicole inwardly said. She just hoped they, or worse the Joker, didn't find her. She heard the other thugs agree and go off to find the Caped Crusader. The young teen knew they wouldn't find him, and even if they did, she knew Batman could take them. She wish she could go find him, or go see if Mara was okay. But for now, she had to stay here until Bruce found her. She just hoped that he would find her soon.

….

Batman could hear running noises down the halls. He guessed the thugs knew he was here, and that was not exactly what he had hoped for. He looked for the nearest room and slipped inside it, closing the door quickly but silently just as the henchmen ran through the hall way. Batman inwardly sighed. _That was TOO close for comfort. Hopefully I can still get to the girls in time before the Joker gets to them or finds me. _

Suddenly, he heard a noise. It sounded like a groan from someone. Batman looked behind him to try and find the noise. The sound came again, and the Dark Knight realized it was a female groan. And more distinctively he could tell it was a young girl's voice. Batman's eyes widened. _The girls!_

He walked fast more in toward the room and saw in a very bright lone light in the shadowed room. He also saw Mara, tied to a wooden chair and barley conscious. As soon as he recognized her he quickly ran to her. "Mara?" he whispered. Mara groaned. "Bruce…..is that you?" She sounded so weak, and Batman saw that her body was very injured from the electrocution Nicole had informed him about. She without a doubt needed medical attention. Batman's face wrinkled in anger, the Joker was NOT going to get away with this. He pulled out a batarang and cut the bondages that held Mara to her chair. As soon as the ropes were cut, she fell forward, Batman catching her before she fell to the floor. He steadied her in the chair, holding her by the shoulders gently.

"Mara, where is Nicole?" he questioned the teen. He needed to find her and get both of them out of here.

"I-I don't know. I don't remember a lot since clown boy shocked me."

The Caped Crusader looked at the girl, then at the floor. He needed to get them both out of here, but he didn't know where Nicole was. He can't leave her here while he gets Mara out of here. But she needed medical attention quickly. Batman sighed deeply. "Don't worry I am going to get you out of here and get you some help."

He picked Mara up bridal style and headed out the door. He looked both ways of the hallway and listened for any noises. No footsteps or any other sounds being heard, he ran into the hallway, retracing his steps to get back to the docks where the Batboat was.

He heard thugs coming in his direction all of a sudden. He hid behind a wall, trying not to make a noise. He heard the thug getting closer towards his location. A single sweat dropped from the vigilante's forehead, and just before they were caught, another thug called out for the henchman, and the thug went off to join his fellow minions.

Batman breathed out and continued his sprint towards the docks. He carefully climbed out the window, making sure Mara doesn't hit her head, and runs across the docks towards where he parked his Batboat.

"Open." He ordered the Batboat when they got there, and the top of the boat opened. He put Mara in the seat and clicked a button on the control panel. "Alfred, I'm sending Mara to you. She needs medical attention immediately. I'm going back to find Nicole."

"Alright sir. Please be careful." The butler answered on the comlink. Batman smirked. "Always. Autopilot. Home." The Batboat's top then closed itself and sped off in the water, on its way back to Wayne Manor, taking Mara along with it. Batman then ran back through the window and into the hallways once more. As he crossed into another hallway, he ran into the Joker's henchmen, who immediately became aware of his presence. Batman glared and went into his fighting pose. _I should have known it wouldn't be this easy._

….

Nicole was still in her hiding spot, waiting for Batman to arrive. She heard many footsteps running all along the hallways, but she couldn't tell whose they were. They could have been the Joker's, his minions' or even Batman's. She hoped she hadn't missed him if he ran right passed her. That would definitely NOT be good. She was also very bored, just sitting on a hard floor waiting for Batman and avoiding the Joker. After all, she had NO patience whatsoever. She always laughed when she thought about that, but now was not the time.

She then heard fighting sounds not too far from her. She heard bodies crashing into doors and walls, and punches being made. This peaked her interest, because who else would fight anyone here but Batman? This was good enough for Nicole to get up off the floor and head toward the noise. She went in a rather large room and hallway (they connected since there was no doors separating them) and saw none other than Batman, fighting the Joker's henchmen. She smiled yet stayed quiet and hid behind a couple of crates.

_Go Bruce, go!_ The 14 year old inwardly cheered. Batman sucker punched one henchman and flying kicked another one in the face. She pondered whether to let him aware that she was here. _No. It could be too dangerous letting him and the clown boys know I am here, otherwise the Joker might show up unannounced. Plus Bruce needs to stay focused in order to finish these guys._ She decided, seeing there were more thugs than last time, instead of Moe, Lar, and Cur. She didn't really want to know why these guys were different, and personally didn't care.

She stood there, behind the crates, staring and smiling in awe of the Caped Crusader beating up the henchmen.

….

The Joker ran through the hallways of his hideout, headed towards the girl's holding room. _Those kids won't be getting out of here that easily! _He ran many twists and turns in the various hallways in the ware house. It wasn't too long until he reached the room where Mara and Nicole were _supposed _to be in. He opened the door and ran inside. He saw the chairs empty, ropes cut and on the floor and the teenagers nowhere to be found.

"WHAT?" he exclaimed, fury dripping from it. He was totally pissed now, and he inspected the ropes. Mara's bondages seemed to be cut from something razor sharp, like Batman's batatrangs, but Nicole's seemed raggedly cut, very different from the other girl's. He saw a piece of sharp metal on the floor and knew that's how Nicole got free. The realization dawned him.

_That little brat got free and contacted Batboob! She foiled my plans, the little snot nosed cretin! When I get my hands on her…._The Joker didn't get to finish his mental rambling when he heard crashes and fighting noises nearby. He walked fast to see what was going on, and saw none other than the Batman fighting off his goons. He growled, thinking that he already got the girls out of here seeing as he could see no sign of them.

He was about to go join the fight to relieve his anger of the Dark Knight ruining his plans by bashing his skull in, when he noticed Nicole on the other side of the room, hiding behind crates smiling at her hero. _The other one_ _wasn't near her, which means that she is the only one there, and Batsy doesn't even seem to notice her being there._ The Joker smiled insanely and ran off to get to the other side of the room through the hallways.

….

Nicole was grinning at Batman, cheering him on silently to herself as he basically pulverized the henchmen. They fought long and hard, she had to admit that. But no matter how many times they got up, they were no match for Batman. And she planned when Batman was done fighting Nicole would reveal herself so they could get out of this nightmare. Or better yet, she could watch Batman beat the living shit out of the mad clown and make sure he is arrested and take pleasure in every second of it.

As she watched the Winged Vigilante throw a thug into other crates, she didn't even notice the purple clad figure sneaking up behind her. A white glove covered her mouth, taking her by surprise. She tried to struggle out of it, but an arm bound her across her chest and restricted her struggles.

"Mmmmpphhh! Mmmph!" Nicole tried to scream, but the hand that covered her mouth made sure she couldn't. The Joker chuckled darkly. "You're not going anywhere, brat! I may not be able to torture both of you now, but at least I will be able to brainwash you still."

The Joker then lifted her up with the arm that restricted her movements and started to drag her away. Nicole tried to kick and scream for help but it was nearly impossible for anyone to hear her, especially that Batman had his hands full with the Joker's minions.

_Bruce help me!_

….

_Aaaaahhhh another cliffhanger XDD I know I am evil x3 don't worry, I'll update b4 the end of this week Please review if u would be so kind :3_

_~Luna_


	20. Chapter 20

_Chapter 20 my friends! Wow never thought I would have that many chapters…any who I want to say thanks to all my loyal fans out there, you r all epic! :3 ON WITH THE CHAPTER!_

…_._

**Chapter 20**

Batman threw the thug into a pile of crates. When the henchmen had caught him lurking in the building searching for Nicole, he had run to get away from them. He wasn't scared; he just didn't have the time to fight with the Joker's lackeys when he had to find the 14 year old. There were more than he expected; about ten or eleven of them, all wanting to fight the Dark Knight. Another thug came at him and gave Batman a punch in the stomach, but it didn't affect him really, he was used to that. Batman returned the attack with a punch in the henchman's face and a sweep of the legs. More swings of fists came at the vigilante and he quickly dodged and returned the punches to the thugs. These guys kept getting back up and trying to beat the Caped Crusader.

_I don't have time for this! _Batman threw his hardest punches at the henchmen, every time these guys went down, they finally stayed down. Before long, all the crooks were beaten and unconscious. Batman was still conscious and barely even injured; a few bruises here or there but not enough to take him down. On the other hand fighting all these men had made the shadowed hero somewhat exhausted, but he couldn't give up now. He straightened his posture and ran out of the room and into the halls. He had to find the teenage girl and get her safely out of here.

_And then take down the Joker_. Batman said in his thoughts.

He ran and turned every corner, trying to look for the young teen. He looked into every room he passed but no sign of Nicole. Little did Batman know that she was in the clutches of the Clown Prince of Crime.

….

The Joker carried Nicole with one arm, his other covering her mouth so she didn't scream for help and bring Batman to where they were. He had an evil and more insane smile than he ever had, and a crazed look in his eyes that did not bode well for the girl he was taking. He was walking quickly in the halls, looking for the dock that led out of there. He had a boat that could take him and his hostage away from there so he could finish what he had started. He may not have both the girls in his possession, but he had at least one, and that was good enough for now.

He could feel her kicking and trying to scream through his gloved hand, but this made the Joker chuckle darkly. He wasn't going to let the brat escape this time, and he was going to make sure that she paid _severely _for bringing the Dark Knight to his hide out and ruining everything. He finally found the correct hallway in where he wanted to go and quickly went down it.

"Quit squirming brat!" He hissed at the struggling girl, getting annoyed at her kicking. "You might as well accept that you aren't going anywhere!"

He stepped quickly through the hallway, unaware of the Batman being on their trail.

….

Nicole kicked and struggled against her captor, and screamed at the top of her lungs. Unfortunately the Joker's hand muffled her yells for help pretty good. He was carrying her through many hallways, not exactly sure of where they were going. But wherever it was, she was sure she didn't want to go. She tried to resist as hard as she could, but she could only hear the Harlequin of Hate chuckle at her attempts. They had passed the room in where she and Mara were held in and saw that it was empty. She smiled inwardly; Bruce must have gotten her out of here already, which she was very thankful for. But now she had to figure a way out of the mad clown's possession and get to Batman.

She struggled as hard as she could and started to kick his legs with more force. She could hear the Joker growl lowly. "Quit squirming brat!" he heard him hiss at her. "You might as well accept that you aren't going anywhere!" She wouldn't believe that, never. She knew Bruce would come and get her away from this psycho. But as long as he couldn't hear her because of the Joker's hand on her mouth, the chances he would find them around here were slim.

The Joker stopped walking again and scolded her on her kicking. "For the last time you little brat…." Before he had a chance to finish, Nicole had decided she needed to get Bruce to hear her now. She bit the Joker' hand as hard as she could, making him yelp in pain and release her mouth. Now was her chance. She screamed.

"BATMAN HELP! THE JOKER'S GOT ME OVER HERE! HELP BAT.." the Joker quickly covered her mouth again before she could scream anymore.

Not too far away from where the clown and girl were, the Batman was looking at rooms to see if Nicole was in there. He heard a scream down a couple hallways. He immediately recognized the voice as Nicole's, seeing as it was a young girl's voice. He understood what she had been screaming…the Joker has her. His slits for eyes widened; that psychopath has her, and is most likely trying to get away. He will NOT let that happen. He instantly started running towards the location of the screams.

The Joker was about to let go of the kid and slap her silly, but he heard running footsteps coming that way. He knew it had to be Batman and his face turned fierce. He then ran inside of a room that had an entry way to the outside, like a huge patio in the backyard of a suburban house. He ran with his hostage and picked up his huge comical but dangerous purple hammer he had stored in there and hid behind a huge pillar. He let the 14 year old down to the ground and held her by her mouth in one hand and the other held the hammer, waiting for the arrival for his enemy with a demented smile.

….

The Dark Knight ran through the halls to the location of where he heard Nicole yelling for help. He found himself in front of a large room with an opening at the other side, probably for throwing discarded fish or where the fish boats came through Batman guessed. He put his cape around him, making him appear as a shadow and walked into the room. He suspected the Joker was hiding in here somewhere, the question was where. As he got further into the room and next to a giant pillar, he felt the impact of something collide to his front, making him fall to the ground and yell in pain. When his vision became less fuzzy, he saw the Joker holding a hammer, the one that was probably used to hit Batman in one hand, and in the other arm was Nicole, struggling against the hold the clown had on her, being held across the chest with his arm and her feet not even touching the ground.

The Joker smiled his trademark smile with an evil look in his eyes. "So glad you could make it to the party, Batsy! Because it will be your last!"

….

_Man I am getting good at these cliffhangers XDD at last Batman and the Joker meet after what, 9 chapters? X3 well I hope u guys like this chapter, and more will be coming soon. Please review if u would be so kind, thankies! Oh and I also want to thank all the ppl who have favorited my story this week, u ppl r great, thanks!_

_-Luna_


	21. Chapter 21

_Whoa I have not updated in awhile XD my bad guys sorry! Been busy with stuff I suppose. Chapter 21, only like two more chapters to go T_T it will be so weird not to write this anymore….anyway hope u enjoy the chapter folks! :D_

…_._

**Chapter 21**

Batman looked at the Joker, still clutching the hammer and grinning a maniacal grin. In his left arm was a struggling Nicole, whose was held across the chest with his arm. Batman glared at his enemy; he needed to get the girl away from him before he hurts her and so he could arrest the psycho. Batman stood up, still a little woozy from the hit but his stern face didn't falter.

"Honestly Bats, why did you have to crash my party, me and the kiddies were playing some fun games. Isn't that right Nicky girl?" The Joker giggled and used his arm to squeeze Nicole's already hurting chest from being weakened by the shocks, making her gasp in pain.

"Let her go Joker!" Batman said trying to keep his anger in control. He hated that monster for hurting the teen. He knew he only hurt her to make him mad, and the dark knight hated that it worked.

"Why should I? You already took the one brat away, I get to keep this twerp and make her pay!" the mad man smiled psychotically.

"Let her go. I'm the one you're after Joker. I'll surrender if you let the girl go."

The Joker looked upwards and pursed his lips as if in a thinking motion. "Tempting….VERY tempting Batsy, but I have to decline your offer." The Clown Prince of Crime then lunged at Batman with his huge hammer aiming for his head, but he dodges the hammer with his quick reflexes.

The Joker kept trying to hit him in the head and stomach and shoulders, but the Caped Crusader dodges with ease at his every attempt. The insane clown then faked a hit and slammed the hammer right into the dark hero's shoulder, making him yell out in pain and bend over towards the ground, clutching his shoulder.

The Joker raised his hammer above Batman's head, laughing madly. "You're going out with a huge smash Batman! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAA!" Before he brought the hammer down on the vigilante's head, Nicole maneuvered her leg and kicked the Joker where the sun don't shine.

"Agghhhhhh!" The Joker yelled out in pain, dropping Nicole and the hammer and fell to his knees, his arm straddling where it hurt. Nicole used this time to try and crawl away from the psychopath. The Joker became aware of what was going on again and reached out for the 14 year old's ankle when a black clad fist smashed into his cheek making him fall backwards.

Batman stood up with his stern face and glare at its usual level. "You're not going anywhere near her anymore, clown."

The Joker rubbed the spot where Batman had hit him and smirked. "If it's a fight ya want Batsy, I'll be happy to oblige." He jumped and tackled into Batman, making them both roll on the floor fighting. Nicole stood not too far away and stared in awe at the two nemesises in their own battle.

The Joker eventually pinned down Batman and was about to punch him, when Batman kicked him in the gut and sent him flying forwards. The Joker rolled yet landed on his knees turning back to face the caped hero. Batman flipped forward to sit up and faced the mad clown in his fighting pose. The clown prince of crime smiled evilly and threw his trademark razor sharp joker cards at Batman. Batman dodged left and right and flipped backwards to escape the sharp cards. The Joker then brought out his gun and immediately started shooting at him. Batman got out of the way of the shooting, but one grazed his arm.

"Ughhh!" He yelped instinctively to the pain. Nicole looked worriedly at the hero, but untensed when she saw him fighting like nothing happened. Batman punched Joker in the face, causing blood to spurt out of his mouth, and the Joker returned his punch, making the side of Batman's cheek bleed. To a gazing Nicole, this fight between them was like a bloodbath. Both Batman and the Joker were scratched up and bleeding in at least one location on their face and arms.

The Joker stumbled forwards into a bunch of crates after the last sucker punch Batman delivered. He wiped the blood from his mouth on his sleeve and pulled put a small control and pressed the huge blue button on it.

A bunch of comical looking tiny clown cars came from down the hall and surrounded Batman. They didn't appear to be dangerous; they looked like cheesy toys you could pick up at a dollar store. Nicole stared at the clown cars with disbelief.

"He's got to be kidding." No way could those cars pose a threat to someone like Batman. Heck she could take them the fourteen year old figured.

All of a sudden one of the cars drove around faster than the others and headed straight for Batman. The Dark Knight knew never to underestimate the Joker, so as soon as the speeding clown car came close he jumped out of the way. The clown car came in contact with a wall it exploded. It was not very huge but big enough to freak the teenage girl out a bit.

"Or maybe he's not kidding." She cringed at the sound of the explosion from the tiny car.

All the tiny cars then started to come at Batman, and the Caped Crusader dodged and jumped and tried to avoid all of the exploding cars. The Joker laughed hysterically as he controlled the dangerous toys, the insane glint in his eyes showing.

The toy cars all exploded when the missed Batman and ran into walls. One of them rammed right into a wall near Nicole. She jumped out of the way right before it exploded and landed in her back.

"Okay…that's going to hurt in the morning." The teen said while getting to a sitting position. She looked at the caped hero dodge and jump away from the toy clown cars. But one came early as soon as he dodged another one and exploded right next to him, making him fly right into the wall and on the ground.

"Batman!" Nicole exclaimed while running to him. She kneeled towards him and saw that he was still alive, but the cloth on his arm that was near the explosion was ripped up. She helped him get up and Batman staggered to his feet. He felt weak from the impact on the wall, but he would not show it and walked towards the Joker with his glare in full mode. The Clown Prince was used to all his glares and sent three more exploding cars after the shadowed vigilante. He dodged one that hit the wall soon afterwards and dodged the second, but right about when the third was going to catch him off guard, a large purple and green hammer smashed it, making it somewhat explode but was muffled under the largeness of the hammer. Holding the hammer was a smiling Nicole.

"Now I couldn't let a little ole car get to you, now could I?" she grinned at the Dark Knight, making Batman smile as much as Batman could smile and faced a nervous looking Joker. He strode towards the madman, making the Joker look around for any weapons he had forgotten. The Joker then grinned as he saw his bazooka he had placed in here before he had captured the girls. He grabbed it and shot it at Batman. Batman dodged and flipped out of the way of the oncoming missiles, and ducking behind a metal rafter.

The insane clown kept shooting his bazooka at the vigilante wildly, aiming anywhere where his bazooka would blow his enemy up and hopefully kill him. Batman was trying to get as far away from the oncoming missiles while still having cover behind the rafter. Nicole could only watch as the Joker was laughing madly as he fired his huge weapon at her savior. The Joker then grinned wider, if it was even possible, as he fired directly at the rafter. The huge impact of the missile hitting the huge piece of metal made Batman fly and crash into the ground, struggling to get up and groaning from the pain it took to even stay conscious.

"NO!" Nicole screamed. The Joker's head went back in full evil psychotic laughter aiming his bazooka at the fallen vigilante to finish him off. What he didn't see was the young girl running towards him with his hammer. Nicole swung it at the insane villain, making him yell out in pain and fall to the ground, dropping the bazooka. Nicole kicked it aside and glared at the clown.

"Leave him alone!" Nicole raised the hammer to hit the madman. He had entered her life unwantedly, he caused her to not even be allowed to be with her family, kidnapped her and Mara, and then almost killed her and especially her best friend. She was absolutely NOT going to let this psycho kill her hero and friend. As she lowered her hammer about to hit the clown the Joker grabbed it as he got back up. After a bit of a tug of war with the teenager he managed to grab the hammer out of hand and threw it to the side, and grabbed Nicole by her throat and raised her off the ground. Nicole struggled and kicked her feet hopelessly in the air, the Joker growling at her.

"You little interfering brat! You are going to pay dearly for that, and I am going to enjoy every second of it." He started squeezing her neck with his hand, choking her. Nicole gasped for air that could not enter her throat and tried desperately to get out of his grip. The Joker chuckled darkly at her attempts to breathe, gripping her throat harder so it would be harder to breathe. A slow grueling punishment for getting in his way, and while she was suffering lack of air, the Joker stared at her with a maniacally grin, amused by her torture. Before the choking knocked Nicole out or otherwise, someone poked the Joker's shoulder, making him turn around in confusion, coming face to face with a scratched up Batman.

"Peek-a-boo." The Dark Knight said while colliding his fist with the Clown Prince of Crime's face, sending him into the wall. Batman caught Nicole before she fell on the ground as she coughed and rubbed her throat, breathing heavily.

"Thanks….for that." She said while trying to catch her breath, happy that she could now get air back into her throat. Batman smiled assuringly at her and strode towards the Joker, who was holding a bleeding nose. The Batman grinded his teeth and grabbed the Joker by the front of his shirt, glaring.

"It's over Joker."

The Joker winced at the sudden movement, but laughed and grinned insanely. "Not quite Batsy. You see, I rigged this place with explosives when I figured out you came to crash my little party. In about…oh two minutes or so this whole warehouse is going to be up in flames and be like a whole bunch of fireworks! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAA!" The Joker laughed madly. Batman grimaced; he knew the Joker was telling the truth, it's exactly what he would do. But he had to get Nicole out of here before it does explode.

Annoyed by the murdering clown he punched him in the face sending him staggering to the right, falling into the dock end of the room near the water. Batman went into the room to get the clown, Nicole following. As Batman picked up the Joker by the back of his suit, the fourteen year old noticed how high up they were from the water. You wouldn't think the warehouse would be from this point, but it was clear as day they were at least 25 feet away from the bottom, and there were a few sharp rocks down there too.

_Figures Gotham would have a warehouse with a view like this. _Nicole mentally sighed. While she was looking at the water, the Joker slashed Batman across his chest, cutting through his bat symbol and laughed as Batman stumbled backwards. Nicole's head jerked to the side in shock as she saw what was going on. Batman clutched his chest, seeing it was bleeding more than he thought he would as the Joker held his knife high.

"Who knew your demise Batman would be such a slice!" the Harlequin of Hate then laughed darkly and crazily as he lunged his knife downward.

"Not today freak!" Nicole tackled the madman, her arm being gashed by the knife before the Joker let go as he and the teen rammed into the old railings, the metal giving way due to the pressure as they both fell off the dock.

"NOO!" Batman yelled with complete fear dripping from it. He ran to where he saw them fall and saw Nicole holding onto a metal bar on the side of the dock, the Joker holding on to her leg. Nicole struggled to hold on to the bar, the Clown Prince's extra weight making her start to lose her grip.

"Batman help!" Nicole said while struggling to hold on. The Joker laughed insanely as he tried to drag her down. "If I go down you go down with me girly!"

Batman knelt down and reached his arm down to her. "Grab my hand!" Nicole tried to reach but almost fell off as the Joker yanked on her leg, but luckily she was able to return her hand back on the bar.

"Heh heh what's the matter kiddo, having trouble hanging on there?" the psychopath chuckled and squeezed her ankle hard, making her yell out in pain.

"Stop it!" Nicole exclaimed trying to kick the demented villain. Batman grinded his teeth. "JOKER!"

This only made the Mogul of Mountebanks laugh harder as he crushed Nicole's ankle more with his hand, her leg already sore from his shock torture making her scream in agony. The Joker laughed sadistically.

"What you are feeling now is nothing compared to what I will put you through once I get back up there you miserable little brat!" He started to motion himself so that he was starting to climb up using her legs as a ladder, ignoring the fourteen year old's squirming.

"You aren't going to do anything to me or Mara anymore you sick son of a bitch!" Nicole then kicked the Joker in the face with the bottom of her shoe, making him reply with a yelp of pain and in the process, accidently letting go of the girl's legs.

"AAAAGHHHHH!" the Clown Prince screamed as he fell deep into the water with a hard splash, not coming back up.

Nicole looked away from the water and back at Batman, reaching her hand up for his. "Almost there, Nicole….just a little farther."

"I'm trying…." All of a sudden her grip suddenly loosened and she began to fall, but before she fell, Batman's gloved hand caught hers, helping her pull up to the top of the dock.

"We've got to get out of here before this warehouse explodes." Batman said.

"You read my mind." Batman suddenly picked up Nicole with one arm and ran back through the room and into the hallways. He maneuvered his way through many hallways as he saw all the now conscious henchmen run away and jump out of windows. The Caped Crusader finally found the main entry/exit and pushed them open running outside, just as a huge explosion came from inside the old warehouse. The fiery eruption blasted inside out throughout the warehouse, eventually burning it down t the ground.

Batman and Nicole watched as the building collapsed in flames. "Thanks…for saving me and Mara." Nicole looked at the caped hero with a smile.

Batman looked back down at her. "You don't have to thank me Nicole."

"Yeah I do. Trust me" With that the fourteen year old hugged the Dark Knight, being careful not to injure him because of his injuries. Batman was shocked to say the least, now exactly knowing how to respond. He wrapped his arms around her gently in an awkward form of a hug.

Nicole let go of the shadowed vigilante, with her familiar grin on her face. "You definitely got to work on those acts of emotion Bruce."

The disguised billionaire chuckled. Now this was the teenager he knew, if only for a short while but long enough. Pretty soon they heard fire trucks and police cars coming towards their direction, and the two figures waited as they arrived to the scene.

….

_Well there was the major climactic fight scene of the story, hope it didn't suck XD and for those who are wondering, no the Joker didn't die, he is just gone for the rest of the story, kind of like the Laughing Fish episode. Probably only going to be one or two more chapters to wrap it up. Again sorry for the long wait ^^;; please review this chapter for my self confidence, thanks!_

_-Luna_


	22. Chapter 22

_Hey guys 8D well here is the 2__nd__ to last chapter T~T I don't have much to say right now, since I am saving all the gushy stuff for the next chapter XDD enjoy the chapter :D_

…_._

**Chapter 22**

After the police and firemen had arrived to the warehouse, Commissioner Gordon had arrived and saw Nicole in the shadows and as far as the cop could see, he saw the outline of a bat behind her, his hand on her shoulder. As the firemen put out the flames, Gordon walked over to the girl.

"Ms. Travis are you alright?" he said looking over the teen's ripped clothes and scratches.

"Yeah I'm fine….just fine." She smiled. James Gordon looked farther into the shadows and saw that Batman had left, disappearing into the night. The older policeman smiled then looked down at the fourteen year old. "Come on let's get you out of here."

Commissioner Gordon then took off his brown trench coat and wrapped it around Nicole's shoulders as they headed towards a police cruiser, leaving the scene with the Dark Knight perched on another building, watching over them heading towards Gotham General Hospital.

….

Nicole was taken to the hospital by the Commissioner to get herself bandaged up and to see if she had any serious injuries. She had a few bruises and her leg's nerves were temporarily shot because of the Joker joy buzzing her, but otherwise the teen was fairly healthy considering what she's been through the last 24 hours. She had a bandaged forehead and walked with a limp through the hospital halls, until Nicole reached hospital room 248 and walked inside. In the room was Mara, who had a bandaged arm from her burns and was watching TV that was on the wall across from her.

"I see you are doing better." Nicole smirked as she saw her friend. Mara looked at her friend and smiled widely.

"Hey you're okay!" the fourteen year old grinned as Nicole sat down next to her.

"Well as okay as I can be I guess." Nicole smiled and laughed. "So what happened after Batman got you out of the warehouse anyway?"

"I don't really remember a lot. I remember being in the Batcave when his boat thingy drove me there, and Alfred seeing me and helping me out then I remember waking up in here and here we are." Mara said. "What happened on your end?"

Nicole sighed. "It's a long story….I'll tell you later when I don't feel like I am about to collapse."

Just then both girls' parents basically ran into the room and both sets of mothers gave their daughters bone crushing hugs and kept exclaiming things they could barley understand.

"MOM! YOU….ARE…CHOKING ME!" Nicole rasped out. Mara kept groaning in pain, and the girl's fathers had to pry the moms off the already injured teens. "Sorry sweetie my bad." Mrs. Rose apologized to Mara. "We just missed you guys so much, and we were so worried." Nicole's mom said. The fourteen year olds fathers then gave them a gentle embrace and they started talking about little things. The parents didn't want to mention that night's events; they figured the girls have been through enough already. Besides they basically already knew from talking to the Commissioner.

They had started talking on little things, mainly on what the girls' parents have been doing since Mara and Nicole have been in hiding. Bruce Wayne then walked in, with a few scratches and his arm in a sling.

"Mr. Wayne what happened?" Mr. Travis asked to his boss.

"Oh nothing to worry about Norman. When I heard from work that the girls were missing I rushed home but got into a bit of an accident on the way. It's nothing I assure you." Bruce walked to the other side of the bed from the parents next to Nicole and Mara. "I hope you two are okay. I don't think I could live with myself if something had happened to you two."

Nicole smiled. "Don't worry Mr. Wayne we're okay."

"Yeah. Besides we had a little help from the Batman." Mara smirked and winked at Bruce, who smiled in return.

"Well I suppose we are all lucky that he got there in time huh?" Bruce said.

"Yeah…we really are." Nicole replied.

Bruce smiled and looked towards their parents. "Alfred already has the girls' things ready in the limo."

"Yes Ms. Travis and Ms. Rose's things will be brought to their homes." Alfred said. "By the way Ms. Rose, I regret to inform you that your pet hamster has passed away."

"What? How?"

"Well apparently the hamster was in its older years and in all the excitement that was going on no one remembered to feed it."

"Aww man." Mara whined. "I just got her last week!"

Nicole pat her shoulders in comfort. "Some people just aren't meant to have pets Mara."

"Like you should talk! Remember that goldfish you got once?..."

"Shush!"

The adults chuckled in amusement at the fourteen year olds' playful bickering. "Well I think we should go get the girls' things so they can come home." Mr. Rose said. The rest of the adults agreed and left the room with Alfred to go get the teenagers' stuff from the limo. The billionaire sighed.

"So you two are okay?" he said in his deeper Batman voice.

"Yeah we're good, besides being bandaged up and in a hospital and stuff." Mara casually replied.

"Yeah Bruce, we're okay thanks to you." Nicole smiled up at him.

"Well I am glad for that…if I hadn't gotten there in time….. I don't know how I could ever forgive myself."

Mara looked up at him. "But you did. If it wasn't for you neither of us would be here right now. Nicole would be god knows where and I would probably be dead"

"She's right Bruce. So don't blame yourself for anything that didn't happen." Nicole turned to him.

The disguised vigilante chuckled. "You know I never quite met two young girls like you girls….but I am really glad I did."

"Awwwww!" both teenagers cooed playfully and both attacked Bruce with hugs. Bruce laughed at the girls' antics and returned the hug, careful not to hurt his slinged arm or the girls. After their embrace Bruce started heading toward the door.

"I have to go to work now, but I will make sure to visit you guys as much as I can." The girls smiled at him and nodded as he left.

"That's a promise."

….

_AWWWWWWWW XDD what can I say I couldn't resist the mushy stuff x3 besides I thought it went along for this particular chapter. The last chapter will come along shortly folks, so be patient with me 8D until then, ta ta for now _

_~Luna_


	23. Chapter 23

_Well here it is folks, the last chapter of Home Alone. ToT I am finally finishing my first story after SIX MONTHS OF WRITING! Wow that is a lot…..anyways enjoy this chapter my friends :D_

_Disclaimer: I don't own shit XD except my OC's :D_

…_._

**Chapter 23**

Mara and Nicole walked into their school building, wearing fresh bandages and trying their best to blend in. Nicole wore a short sleeved blue shirt with dark jeans and Mara wore a black jacket, red shirt, and grey pants. They didn't really want to make a scene during their first day back. Usually they didn't care much but they just wanted a little quiet time and try to be normal after everything that has been going on. Of course when they saw their friends running at them they knew calm and relaxing wasn't going to be in their schedule.

"Oh crap….." Mara groaned as their friend Chelsea basically rammed into them and hugged them.

"Oh my god where have you two been?" their friend exclaimed then hit both of them in the chest.

"OWW!" both the girls yelled in pain.

"Don't you two EVER scare me like that again!"

"Well we are already injured a lot thanks." Nicole said while Mara was trying to catch her breath. Nicole still had a bandaged head and walked with a limp while Mara had a cast around her arm.

"You're welcome." Chelsea smiled.

Mara muttered something while Nicole couldn't help but laugh. She missed her old, wacky friends and would take their antics over the Joker's little games any day.

"So what like happened to you guys anyway?" Emily asked.

"It's a long story Em…" Mara said. All the fourteen year olds' friends were asking them questions throughout the school day. It is not everyday your friends are abducted by one of the most notorious criminals in Gotham, so naturally they were interested. When it was time for lunch and everyone sat down and started eating, one of their not so friendly peers walked right up to them.

"You two are back? What a shame, I thought I was rid of you two clown girls for good. But like a real dirty stain, losers are hard to really get rid of for good." Christie smirked and laughed her obnoxious snobbish laugh. Her "friends" laughed along with her, trying to humiliate the teens on their first day back.

Nicole sighed and stood up, facing Christie. "Now look here you stuck up little bitch. I have been put through a lot the past couple days. We were kidnapped by the Joker, electrocuted and me and Mara almost died but were saved by Batman. And after all of this you have the nerve to call me a loser? No I am not a loser Christie; _you _are the loser. You make fun of us for being ourselves while you are a snobbish brat. We are sick of all the shit you say to us and if you don't leave us the hell alone, I am going to kick your bitchy ass until you wish you never met us. Got it?" Nicole seethed and glared at the other girl, obviously taken back by her words, along with her friends and Mara and the others.

Christie stuttered but gathered herself. "I don't need this. Goodbye Travis." She said Nicole's last name full of spite as she walked away with her nose in the air, her clique following her. Nicole sat back down with her friends.

"Whoa…didn't know you had it in you, Nicole." Mara grinned at her friend.

"Yeah that was awesome!" their friend Diana exclaimed.

Nicole smiled. "It was nothing really. I just said what has been on my mind for awhile is all. And I was getting sick of her attitude anyway." She said while nibbling on her popcorn chicken.

Mara pat her on the back. "I am so proud of you, your finally learning to defend yourself and others." She said while fake sniffling and pretending to cry on Nicole's shoulder.

"Yeah….." Nicole replied as she got her friend off her shoulder, the others chuckling. Mara laughed and remembered something. "Uhh Chelsea?"

"Yeah?"

"Chelsea the hamster is dead."

"WHAT?"

….

The rest of the day went by pretty normally for the girls, and as the bell rang for the end of school, Nicole and Mara got their things and walked together towards their busses.

"Well this was an exciting little adventure we had. We beat the Joker, met Batman, lived in a mansion for awhile and even found out the Dark Knight's identity!" Mara said quietly to her friend as they walked.

"Yeah it was, but I can hold off on the adventure for awhile. Especially my leg and I am sure your arm." Nicole replied as Mara nodded and agreed. As they neared their busses Nicole looked across the road and could have sworn she seen a bat shaped figure watching them from a dark alley, and as soon as a car passed by, the shape was gone. Nicole smiled, seeing as she knew exactly who it was.

"What?" Mara asked as she saw Nicole grinning.

"I think I just saw a friend." Nicole answered as she was still smiling. Mara looked confused for a moment until she finally got it and grinned herself. They walked to their separate buses and as they went their separate ways to go home, a black clad figure watched from the roof of a building, smirking slightly and shot his grapple hook to the top of another building, swinging across the sky, ready to defend Gotham City and all the citizens of his home.

**The End**

….

_Well that was the last chapter of Home Alone guys, I really hoped you all enjoyed my story as much as I enjoyed writing it :) Now for the thank you's 8D_

_I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed my story and given me a lot of confidence in my writing, like Miss Maggie Ash, LuvIsAThing, Nuclear Chick, James Birdsong, FreakChick911SOS, Dreamer's Ballot, ThornManiaLilyCharliZorianna, and of course one of my best friends AnnoyedValeria. Thank you for anyone else I didn't mention and for all those who subscribed to my story, you all rock! 8D_

_Thanks a lot for everything guys! _

_~Luna_

_P.S.: for any Halloween/Michael Myers fans out there I will be starting a new story in that section, I think I will be naming it "Daughter of Evil" so be on the look for it ^^ thanks!_


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